Marketing Perishable Crops Profitably 
Care in Picking, Packing and Handling 
S UITABLE T’ACKAUUS—If the fruit or vegetable 
be of a d(v^iral)le variety, well grown, carefully 
harvested, judiciously gi'aded as to size and (luality. 
packed to meet the requirements of the market of¬ 
fered on, and shipiied right, the article is half sold. 
The first step toward the consumer's dollar is neat 
appearance, and this holds eipiall.v as good with the 
middlemen. The growers offering in-oduce in filthy, 
damaged i)ackages. poorly i)ackod. partially decayed, 
and ungraded as to .size and (|uality, cannot hope to 
reach the best trade nor to build a lasting market 
demand. Markets may be glutted with fruit and 
-■-sirsz 
shipments, aiid the m.irkets looked eh 
more (h'sirable pi-odu<-t. both cheap and plentituf. 
Crowers and shippers of perishable produce must 
come to appreciate that when profits accrue from the 
business, they generally follow marketing the pro¬ 
duce of best quality and appearance, delivered on 
the market in the proper maturity. As with other 
perishable crops, it is important that melons he han¬ 
dled with care from field to consumer, each operation 
receiving due attention. The standard crate is 
usually used from field to packing shed, and the 
nu'lons should not be dropped at any stage. The 
cnite usually u.sed for marketing is made of two 
luvids or ends, ll' inches .‘square, and TJ slats 24 
inches long, according to style used. This is the 
lltUJO discarded, and crates should not b; 
usL'o -.....". field to market. 
lir.VRKETINa STRAWBERRIE-S. — Strawberries 
present a crop upon which the farmer can make 
large profits from a small outlay of capital and land 
devoted to the plants. The main aim should be to 
have the type of plants be.st adapted to the locality, 
follow judicious cultivation, after which the manner 
in which the fruit is handled has a large government 
over the profits. The time :ind stage of maturity 
should be jmlged by the market and distance to be 
shipped. Local markets woiild mean harvesting the 
crop when the berries were thoroughly ripened. But 
soiling :i distant market demands more care, for 
which there usually exists an increased price. In 
Pickinf/ Tfiffh-CIaftsi Fffrnirhrrrirsi — flro)rn for Fiiz'c md Flavor. Fif/. S'tO 
vegetable proflncts, but it is difficult to locatt* one 
ovor-stippii(‘d with A\ell-gra(h>d produce. And the 
high-grade articles always sell well, while ordinary 
poorlj' graded go begging for a buyer. The consumer 
is growing more and more discriminating, and is 
willing to pay the price. The farmer who offers his 
produce ungraded is doing business under a 
handicap. 
MELON EXEERIENCE.—Consumption is often 
retarded by shipping undesirable produce. This was 
well illustrated last Eall. Early iu the California 
shipping season a large number of cars of canta¬ 
loupes were picked when Imlf green and h.alf ripe 
and rushed onto the Eastern markets that the high 
prices might be received. Con.sumers refuse to buy, 
middlemen and commission merchants wired to stoi) 
standard crate, while the jumbo cnitt* measures Ul 
by U; by 24 inches. :ind the pony crate 11 by 11 by 
24 inches. The larger melons are shipped in the 
standard crates, smaller c:mtaloupes going in the 
smaller ones. In such sections as New York. Michi¬ 
gan and Central States, in a<ldition to these crates, 
“Clima.x” baskets are use<l. as well as short fiat 
crates holding 10 to 10 melons. But these smaller 
packages are un.satisfactory save for neighboring 
markets, for they do not permit packing uniform 
melons, the bottom tiers being usually small inferior 
products. The appearance of the package plays such 
an important part in the .successful marketing of a 
product that all growers should pack only in first- 
class containers. The crates should be well made. 
Of clean, smooth, strong wood with all cross-grained 
this case the fruit should be picked before it is thor¬ 
oughly ripe, but the berries must be fully grown, 
three-fourths ripe. When i)icked before colored the 
berries shrivel and are not fit for sale. The stem 
shovdd be attached to the berry, as to slip them off 
means decay and soiled appearaime follow, which 
.spoil their shipping and keeping iiualities. 
UNIECRM BICKINC AND PACKINC.—It is very 
important that this crop be uniformly picked and 
packed ; being one of the more perishable farm crops, 
quick marketing is necessary. To secure the highest 
prices for strawberries, tlie fruit must be uniformly 
graded and .sorted. This may be done in the field, 
the pickers carrying several baskets on their trays, 
grading the fruit Into the various cla.ssifications us 
the fruit is picked. The three grades usually em- 
