March i, 1904 
varieties of grapes which have been ship- 
ped successfully thus far are limited. _ 
The White American grape, known by 
+he local name of Daira, has proved the 
most consistently successful. A small red 
grape, called by Mr. Hardy “Red Daira,” 
has also travelled well. The Doradilla, 
when not dver-ripe, and when the berries 
are thinly distributed upon the bunches, 
has also carried and sold well. I believe 
it would pay growers to thin the berries 
of this variety when half-grown, if they 
intend to export it to Europe. Anyway, 
cany damaged or bruised berries should be 
cut away prior to packing any of the sorts. 
The Waltham Cross, Belas Blanco, and 
‘Santa Paula varieties have also been sent: 
with varying success by various shippers, 
but for the present the first three kinds 
named here may be depended:on to carry 
more consistently. 
The crate and trays used for packing 
peaches to interstate markets by the South 
Australian Fruit and egetable Company : 
‘The outside dimensions of the crate are: 
95 x 15 x 12 in., and the trays it carries are 
23 x 13 x 24. The crate is made of four 
laths 25 x 3 x 3 in., which form the sides. 
The ends are composed of four pieces 14} 
x 3x in. These are held together by 
a, post in each corner, which is 1¥ in. square, 
by 11} in. long, with a square of { in. cut 
_out of the internal angle, into which the 
-corners of the trays fit. The battens are 
nailed to the top and bottom ends of these 
corner posts, while a piece 15 x 3 x g is 
nailed across each end of the frame at the 
bottom. The.trays rest upon this when 
packed into the crate. The top is made of 
four jpieces, 25 x 3 x 3. The trays are 
framed of three pieces, 12 x 23 x 3 thick, 
which comprise the two ends and the cen- 
tral partition. The bottom is made of four 
pieces, each 224 x 3 x § thick, while the 
two side pieces are each 22 x 24 x 4. 
Across each end on the outside of the bot- 
4om a cleat 125 x 4 x $ is nailed, which 
prevents the bottom of ‘the upper tray 
pressing upon the contents of the one be- 
neath it, and gives each tray a depth of 
3 in. Each tray will hold four dozen good, 
_fair-sized peaches. 
Each fruit is wrapped separately in tis- 
gue paper, and over each tray and in any 
yacant corners wood wool is used to secure 
firmness and elasticity to the contents. 
’ The weak point about this crate is that half 
_ of the exposed surfaces onsidesand ends and 
nearly the whole of that of the bottom is 
composed of the thin wood, viz., the sides 
and ends of the trays. As far as the pres- 
sure from other crates is concerned, the 
strain should rest upon the thick outside 
framework of battens, but the contact of 
the foot of the workman would be fatal 
to the thinner wood; and, unfortunately, 
this is a contingency which arises only too 
frequently in the handling of fruit in tran- 
sit. : 
Package of considerable value in the 
transportation of pears to Europe: It con- 
sists of three trays joined together by an 
external cleat fastened to each corner. 
' These trays have been used with success in 
- the export of pearsfrom Victoria to London, 
‘THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
and I am informed the Tasmanian growers 
have also adopted the principle in their 
oversea trade. As far as I am aware, the 
only grower who thus far has adopted these 
packages here is Mr. G. R. Laffer, of Be- 
lair, through whose kindness I have been 
able to figure them here. I would suggest 
the trays should be made of such dimen- 
sions so that when three are united, as 
shown in our illustration, a package will 
be formed with proportions equal to those 
of the Peacock apple case. To attain this 
end they should be made as follows: The 
sides be composed of battens 194 in. long, 
3 in. wide, ? in. thick. The lids—one of 
which is required for every three trays, 
should be composed of four pieces, two of 
which should be 194 in. long by 33 in. wide 
by } in. thick, and two 194.x 35 x §. The 
bottom of every third tray should be made 
of exactly similar dimensions, while that 
of the other two trays should be made of 
four. pieces, each 19} x 34 x g- The varia- 
tion in thickness will give the ventilation 
described as haying proved so successful in 
connection with the Peacock apple case. 
The ends are each composed of three pieces 
91 long x 3 in. x §. The four cleats (one 
used at each corner) each measure 9 in. x 
3 in. x 2 in. 
When packing the pears a tray with the 
two t-in. battens on the bottom is packed 
first. The fruits are each carefully wrap- 
ped in a piece of tissue paper and packed 
into wood wool—long pears on their sides, 
short ones upright. When the tray has 
received its complemnet of fruit, wood. wool 
is carefully packed between them, and a 
good thick layer placed over the top. The 
second and third trays are packed simi- 
larly and placed ina pile. The lid is then 
nailed on to the top tray, placing the 4-in. 
thick battens on the outer sides. The 
ends of the three trays are then adjusted 
and the cleats nailed on, taking care that, 
while the nails take a “dove-tailing” direc- 
tion into the wood of the trays, they shall 
not penetrate to the fruits. 
FRUIT AS A REMEDY FOR GOUT. 
While’ the staunch vegetarian holds 
strong views with regard to a diet of fish, 
flesh, or fowl being more or less poisonous 
to the human system, the fruitarian does 
not regard with special favor the fare which 
the former individual considers indispens- 
able to health. To fruitarians uncooked 
fruit is the only natural food, and they put 
their views into practice by limiting their 
diet to fruits. The chief opponents to an 
exclusively fruit diet have been the medical 
men, who contend that such a diet is not 
suitable in a cold country such as the 
United Kingdom. With regard to gouty 
persons, they have long contended that, in 
the case of persons who suffer from gout, 
the liberal use of fruit is attended with 
considerable risk, and some have jasserted 
that the consumption of fruit has a tendency 
to develop the disease in healthy persons. 
Now the pendulum shows signs of swinging 
the other way, and we shall not be sur- 
prised to find in the medical journals a 
strong advocacy of a diet of sylvan sim- 
plicity. One medical man has already 
13 
declared that he has frequently cured gout 
with grapes and oranges, and he declares 
that his advice to gouty patients is ‘‘ Hat 
plenty of fresh, ripe, uncooked fruit.’” 
While the prices of fruit assist in the elimt- 
nation from the system of gouty tendencies, 
the fact must not be overlooked that the 
consumption of fruit in large quantities 
may prove injurious to patients who have 
for any considerable period regarded the 
juicy pear and luscious grape as articles of 
diet to be carefully avoided. We are, 
therefore, strongly of the opinion that im 
making a change in the diet fur the purpose 
ot giving a place to truit, it is advisable to 
proceed slowly. There can be no qnestion 
whatever that liberal supplies of tresk 
cooked and uncooked fruit are bizhly bene- 
fical, but extravayance in eating fruit, as 
of other articles uf food, snuuld be averded, 
for excesses are net vuly likely to peove in- 
jurivus to those who iudulge in them, but 
“they bring tbe fruit intu undeserved dis- 
repute. 
Vegetable 
———_O—- 
Wren 
OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 
By W. 8S. CAMPBELL. 
It will be desirable now to look ahead 
a little, even to late autumn and winter, 
and arrange operations for the future. 
This will save a great deal of time and 
muddling. With a little practice in your 
particular locality, it will not be difficult 
to discover the length of time each king 
of vegetable should take, under the ordi- 
nary conditions, to attain its perfection, 
or when it should be gathered for use, or 
when it has finished producing its seeds, 
such as the pea or bean. A rough idea 
will do, so as to enable you to be prepared 
for clearing away all useless stock, and re- 
planting or resowing something else. If 
plants such as the cabbage, cauliflower, 
Brussels sprouts, sayoys, or broccoli are» 
' badly sown and improperly treated after- 
wards, you will probably find that there 
is no regularity in their arriving at matu- 
rity. Be advised, and carry out the smal 
lest operation methodically. Sow your 
seeds thinly; prick out the young plants 
to enable them to gain strength and grow 
stocky, then plant ouf all tose of the same 
size in one bed, then the chances are that 
these will be all ready for use fairly wel¥. 
about the same time. But a family does. 
not want to demolish a large bed of cab- 
bages or cauliflowers within a day or two, 
therefore you should regulate sowing and 
planting in such a manner that a continu— 
ous supply be kept going in such quantity 
ag may be required. 
Beans.—All kinds of beans, except the 
broad or Windsor bean, may be sown as ex- 
tensively as may be required, and all old 
beans which are no longer bearing should 
be removed, and some other kinds of veget- 
able sown or planted in their places. Mr. 
Dunnicliffe tells me that he is inclined te 
think that the new climbing French beam 
called Carter's Ten Weeks is likely to prove 
well worth growing. He finds that if - 
