THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
55 
varieties of high quality,—Winesap, Spitzenburg, Newtown. 
But other varieties, even some of very indifferent qualit}^ 
have been sold in the box package to great advantage, show¬ 
ing that the style of package and the grade of fruit, rather 
than its flavor, are the deciding factors. However, the 
Floor Plan of Nursery Office. Scale, i-i6 inch to i foot. 
general experience has been that the better the quality of 
the fruit, the more apt it is to pay in the box pack. If varie¬ 
ties of inferior quality pay in the box pack, it is because the 
style of package and the grading outweigh the deficiency in 
quality. 
EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOX PACKAGE IN THE EAST 
Having in mind the essential difference between the box 
and the barrel trade, it does not seem strange tha.t most of 
the attempts to use the box in the East have not resulted 
satisfactorily. It is probably near the truth to say that 
eight out of every ten trials of the apple box in the East 
have been unsuccessful. A notable example is an experi¬ 
ment by the Field Pomologist of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Mr. W. A. Taylor, several years ago. He sent 
abroad during two seasons eight carloads of carefully graded 
box Baldwin, York, and Newtown, but with indifferent 
results as compared with barrels. There are many possible 
reasons for these failures. 
1. Custom —Custom is hard to change,—and the box 
package is an innovation in the East. As a rule, eastern 
buyers and grocers do not look with favor upon the box, 
partly because the profits in repacking and selling a barrel 
of indifferently packed apples are apt to be greater than in 
handling three well packed boxes. If the producer could 
deal with the consumer, it would be different; there is no 
doubt but that a majority of the consumers would prefer 
the box, or a smaller package, if the fruit did not cost much 
more. 
2. The Market —A good deal depends upon what a 
certain market prefers, in the matter of fruit packages, as 
well as in fruit varieties. West of the Mississippi there is 
special necessity for caution in this respect. Some buyers 
want their fruit in boxes, and others prefer barrels, accord¬ 
ing to the market they expect to reach. The grower who 
ships should be equally wise. 
3. Poor Packing and Grading —More failures arise 
from this cause than from any other. The art of packing 
boxes is not acquired in an hour. It is work for specially 
trained men, not for the average farm help. In this respect 
it differs materially from barrel packing, which may be 
quite well done by ordinary help. Moreover, the habits of 
several generations of men who have packed in barrels, 
using “facers” and “fillers,” have descended to the fruit 
growers of today; and many of them find it ex¬ 
tremely difficult to keep the smaller, poorly colored, 
or slightly imperfect specimens from gravitating to 
the bottom of the box. It will take a generation or 
two, perhaps, to breed out that habit. The western 
man deserves no credit for being more honest in this 
respect, for, as has been pointed out, honesty was not 
merely the best policy for him, but the only policy 
that would pay freight rates. 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 
The drift is all towards the smaller package. 
This is in keeping with the trend of the times with 
respect to other commodities. There is no doubt 
but that the box package, or at least the smaller type of 
package, will some time entirely supplant the barrel. The 
smaller package will not necessarily be made of wood. We 
can expect the wooden package to be replaced, eventually, 
by paper, cellulose, or some other cheap material. Even 
now some very substantial paper boxes are on the market. 
When speaking of the box type of package, therefore, we 
refer to the size and shape of package, rather than to the 
material. 
f But while the box type of package is the ideal towards 
which we are rapidly working, it by no means follows that 
every eastern fruit grower should begin packing in boxes at 
once. He should begin only when he is ready; and nine- 
tenths of the growers are not ready. To be ready for box 
packing means that the grower can get good boxes about as 
cheap as barrels, bushel for bushel; that he is able to grow a 
crop of fruit, preferably of high quality varieties, at least 
ninety per cent, of which is fancy or No. i; that he is able to 
command skillful and experienced packers; that he is able 
to put a large quantity of box fruit on the market, not one 
year only, but year after year, so as to win a reputation for 
Front Elevation of Nursery Office. Scale, 1-16 inch to i foot. 
the brand; and that he ships his fruit to markets that are 
already familiar with the box pack and take kindly to it. 
At the present time not one apple grower out of ten, east of 
the Mississippi, is able to meet these conditions. 
With respect to the market, the fruit grower must recog- 
