A BOX OF FINE WESTERN APPLES. 
PICKING, PACKING AND MARKETING. 
A Story of Apple Land. 
Part II. 
STYLES OF PACKING.—It may seem like an easy 
tiling to a beginner to pack a box of apples, but let 
such a man attempt the job in one of these western 
packing houses, and it is doubtful if they would let him 
finish the first box. Great skill and a peculiar knack 
is required to fill the boxes exactly without leaving 
slack places or squeezing the fruit too hard. There are 
several ways for packing. The three most common 
are known as straight, diagonal and ofif-set. The pic¬ 
tures will explain these different methods better than 
we can do it in words. In straight packing the apples 
run straight across the box. They make the neatest 
appearance of any, yet this method is hard on fruit, as 
each apple is squarely against its neighbor, instead of 
slipping gently into the recesses between them. The 
size of the apples determines the number of rows or 
tiers in a box. A five-tier box is about the largest size 
pack in the West, although a six-tier pack would be 
possible. When apples are carefully graded the num¬ 
ber in each box can be carefully estimated. In a three- 
tier box, which means the largest apples packed, there 
should be either 45 or 56 apples, depending upon the 
length. The four-tier contains from 96 to 144, while 
the five-tier box contains 200 apples, which means eight 
rows long. The number of apples put into a box under 
this system of packing is always known, and is, of 
course, stamped on the outside of the package. The 
pictures, Figs. 273 and 277, show how the diagonal 
and off-set packing is done. These are used for sizes 
not suitable for the straight packs, and some growers 
always use this system. When the apples are wrapped 
they carry better in this style. 
THE PACKER AT WORK.—The operation of 
packing looks easy to a beginner, but represents long 
months of steady practice and a quick hand and 
eye. The box itself should be clean and neat. 
Fig. 274 shows two men at a packing table be¬ 
ginning operations. The packer at the right is 
just putting in what is known as a layer of paper. 
This is a piece of soft cardboard just the size 
of the box, and is laid in the bottom. The lining 
papers are folded and hung over the sides of the 
box, lapping over the bottom. The paper hod 
hung on the edge of the box contains the wrap¬ 
ping paper. The packer wears a rubber stall on 
the thumb or first finger, which enables him to 
pick up a sheet of paper easily. This paper is a 
clean white and usually Sx 10 inches. The packer 
takes up an apple with his right hand, a glance 
telling him if the size is right and the apple tit. 
His left hand has loosened a sheet of paper. The 
two are quickly slipped together, and with a quick 
twist the paper is wrapped around the fruit. So 
rapidly do these men work that it takes up little 
longer to wrap the fruit than it would to put it 
in unwrapped. For sale in the East, wrapped 
fruit is preferred. It gives a softer packing for 
the fruit, takes up slack space in case of shrink¬ 
age, helps to hold the perfume of the apple and 
also prevents decay, should this by any possible 
chance appear in the box. Good judgment is re¬ 
quired in selecting and wrapping fruit so that 
and the last row go into the box without too much jam¬ 
ming or crowding. It is also necessary to select or 
turn the apples so as to make a bulge or crown on the 
center of the box, as in this way a cover will fit closely 
without smashing the fruit. 
HONEST PACKING. —Honesty and uniformity 
should be the motto hung up over every packing table, 
for the apple at the middle or bottom of the box should 
be just as good as those on top, and every one as good 
as the orchard can furnish. With the name of the packer 
on the box, the number of apples therein and the figure 
"L’’ when the fruit is under-colored, it is easy to trace 
mistakes down to the individual, and dock him if neces¬ 
sary. Where the overseer is not critical, the packers 
are inclined to work too fast, which makes faulty pack¬ 
ing. It is reported from some places that packers have 
STARTING A 3% TIER BOX. Fig 273. 
put up more than 100 boxes per day, yet very few of 
them can do more than 50 and pack well. Some of the 
boxes are labeled where they are of the highest quality. 
This is a good plan. We are told that in Canada the 
following section is found in the fruit law: 
Every person who, by himself or through the agency of 
another person, packs fruit in a closed package, intended for 
sale, shall cause the package to he marked in a plain and 
indelible manner, before it is taken from the premises 
where it is packed,— 
( n) with the initials of his Christian name, and his full 
surname and address; 
(b) with the name of the variety or varieties; and 
( c ) with a designation of the grade of fruit, which shall 
include one of the following six marks: for fruit of the 
first quality, No. 1. or XXX; for fruit of the second 
quality, No. 2, or XX; and for fruit of the third quality. 
No. 3, or X; but (he said mark may be accompanied by 
any other designation of grade, provided that designation 
is not inconsistent with, or marked more conspicuously 
than, the one of the said six marks which is used on the 
said package. 
Growers in the East would apparently like some such 
law to govern fruit shipping. It requires considerable 
skill to load the car so that the boxes will arrive prop¬ 
erly and secure a circulation of air around them. A car 
will hold about 600 boxes. Fig. 276 shows a view 
through a car door and the manner of placing the boxes 
with upright and cross beams so as to hold them firmly 
in place. So much for boxing the apple. If the same 
fruit were picked and packed at random in barrels or 
in odd packages, they would not sell for enough in the 
East to pay the cost of transportation. They would ap¬ 
parently pay for little more than this if each grower 
acted by himself, and many comparatively small lots 
were thrown upon the market. It is easier for most 
growers to produce, good fruit than it is for them to 
sell it at a good price. When acting alone, the railroads 
and the commission men practically have them at their 
mercy, and many growers in the West, especially prune 
and peach growers, gave up their orchards in disgust 
with trying to handle the crop alone. The Fruit Union, 
conducted on business principles and with an honest, 
capable board of directors, will handle these matters 
much better than the individual can do it. 
ORGANIZED EFFORT.—We have not the space in 
this article to tell how the Apple Growers’ Union of 
Hood River was organized. As we have stated, this 
union has been able to increase the price of Spitzenburg 
apples from 85 cents to $2.60 per box in two years. 
This was because the union, operating for 115 different 
growers, was able to guarantee a package and to handle 
enough fruit to do a large wholesale business. No poor 
varieties are permitted to go out under the union label 
and they can bargain for 1,000 or 5,000 boxes for any 
market at any time by telegraph or telephone. The 
buyer knows just what he will get, and need not open 
a box of fruit before selling it. Not only is there this 
economy in selling, but in buying as well. Boxes which 
formerly cost 10 j /2 cents are now obtained by the union 
for 8j4 cents. Lining and wrapping paper, and also 
chemicals for spraying, can be bought by the 
carload at a great reduction for members. The 
union can avoid losses from bad accounts, because 
it does not have to hunt buyers, having control 
of a large amount of fruit. It can also make 
accurate estimate of the apple crop long before 
it is picked, and call for sealed bids on carload 
lots or less. Acting in this way, the union is 
able to save money both ways for its members, 
and has brought about a wellnigh ideal plan for 
handling fruit. Is there any good reason why 
this same plan could not be followed in one or 
more counties of western New York, where 
varieties and the character of the fruit are nearly 
uniform? There seems no reason why the-plan 
should not be followed in other parts of the 
country, greatly to the advantage of first-class 
growers. 
TERRIBLE MELON BLIGHT PROBLEM. 
During', an experience of 10 years or more 
raising musk melons, we feel that the blight 
problem is far from being solved. We have 
found that so far as we know, all varieties are 
liable to the attack of blight about alike. We 
have raised Osage during the time we have 
been planting melons, and it is the only vari¬ 
ety we have this year. We have chosen it not because 
it is immune from disease, but rather for its quality 
and yield. We have felt up to this year that spraying 
with Bordeaux Mixture, the common formula, every 10 
days was a great protection, and the quality of our 
melons has given them a ready sale in this market over 
our competitors, because of spraying, as we have 
thought. Last year we picked nearly the last melons 
off our vines, but this year we have blight at this date 
(August 11) in spite of persistent spraying, and it 
APPLE PACKERS AT WORK. Fig. 274. 
