ROTHER JONATHAN SERIES"— NO. 
 
 PACKINLG 
 JD MABKETIKG 
 FRUITS 
 
 Copyright, 1905 
 By The Fruit-Grower Co. 
 St. Joseph, Mo. 
 
ClassS B^( pQ 
 Book ,\A/ 4 
 
PACKING AND 
 
 MARKETING 
 
 FRUITS 
 
 How Fruits Should Be Handled to Carry 
 
 to Market in Best Condition and 
 
 Present Most Attractive 
 
 Appearance 
 
 By F; A/WAUGH 
 
 Professor of Horticulture, Massachusetts 
 Agricultural College 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE FRUIT=GROWER COMPANY 
 SAINT JOSEPH. MISSOURI 
 
 1905 
 

 
Brother Jonathan 
 Series 
 
 Booklet No. 5 
 
Publisher 's Note 
 
 The author of this little book is Prof. F. A. 
 Waugh, of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 
 and formerly of Kansas. He has for many years 
 made a special study of the fruit markets of the 
 United States, Canada and Europe, and of all the 
 methods employed in handling and selling fruit. 
 He is also the author of a more extensive work on 
 the same subject, entitled "Fruit Harvesting, Storing 
 and Marketing," published by the Orange Judd Co., 
 New York. We shall be happy to supply this book 
 to those who may desire it direct from The Fruit- 
 Grower office for $1.00, postage prepaid, which is 
 the publishers' price. 
 
Introductory Kemarks 
 
 The buying and selling of fruit in America is 
 largely in the hands of commission men, speculators 
 and others professionally engaged in the traffic, but 
 not interested directly in fruit growing. This ten- 
 dency to transfer the commercial part of the business 
 out of the hands of the fruit-growers and into the 
 hands of quite another set of men will probably con- 
 tinue to increase the difference pointed out. In other 
 words, the business of trading in fruits belongs less to 
 the farmers and fruit-growers than it does to the 
 commission men, speculators, cold storage men, pro- 
 fessional buyers, transportation men, and others of 
 that class. 
 
 It is hardly necessary, however, to preface the fol- 
 lowing pages with an explanation that they are not 
 addressed to the men of this latter class, even though 
 they do have the largest interest in fruit marketing. 
 The fruit-grower continues to have his interest in the 
 matter, too; and it is the interest of the producer that 
 The Fruit-Grower has first in mind. There are two 
 other reasons why the present author does not under- 
 take to instruct the speculators and commission men: 
 First, they are usually quite able to take care of 
 themselves; second, the present scribe has never 
 studied their business from their own standpoint. 
 
 It is the plain purpose of this book, therefore, to 
 help the fruit-grower. If anything can be done to 
 help him in disposing of his crop at a profit the 
 purpose of this book shall have been fully satisfied. 
 
 There can be no doubt but that the fruit-grower 
 needs to study carefully this business of fruit mar- 
 keting. It is one thing to grow good fruit, and quite 
 another to get profitable returns from it. The diffi- 
 culties are growing constantly larger and larger. The; 
 
6 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 development of business continually introduces new 
 complications. New markets have to be reached. 
 New customers have to be consulted. New ideas in 
 transportation are brought forward. New packages 
 are proposed every day. New schemes are in sight 
 everywhere. Market conditions are every day becom- 
 ing more and more complex. Unless one studies the 
 subject carefully and ceaselessly he must soon fall 
 behind the times. 
 
 The complexity of the subject stands as one of the 
 chief reasons why the fruit-grower should study 
 deeply into the fundamental questions underlying the 
 whole subject of fruit marketing. Only in this way 
 can he properly understand the various and often 
 surprising facts which come to his acquaintance. 
 
 A fruit-grower, to be successful in his business, 
 must know how to grow good fruit, and he should be 
 able to do this at a minimum cost. It is often said 
 that good fruit sells itself, and this is true to a cer- 
 tain extent, so that a knowledge of fruit-growing is a 
 first essential in fruit selling. Yet after the fruit is 
 grown there are still two matters which the fruit- 
 grower ought to understand in order to make his 
 undertaking a financial success: First, he should 
 have a broad knowledge of the general principles 
 governing the business of trading in fruit; and sec- 
 ond, he must be master of an infinite number of little 
 details, every one of which is essential to complete 
 success. 
 
 A few of these little details can be set forth in a 
 work like this, but many of them can be learned by 
 experience only. The main purpose and use of this 
 little text book, from the nature of things, must be to 
 set forth in systematic order the general principles 
 involved. Let us understand therefore, at the outset, 
 that it is impossible to tell everything which is 
 important. There will still be many things for the 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 7 
 
 fruit-grower to learn after he has mastered all the 
 instructions here given. Still these instructions are 
 none the less necessary. 
 
 It is the plan of this booklet to treat the different 
 fruits separately, discussing picking, packing, stor- 
 age, etc., for each. The apple is placed first, because 
 it is the most important of our American fruits. 
 Many of the methods employed in marketing apples 
 are applicable also to other fruits, so that in subse- 
 quent chapters 'it will often be necessary to repeat 
 statements already made or to refer to what has 
 gone before. The latter alternative will usually be 
 adopted. 
 
 The index at the back of the book will doubtless 
 make it easy to find any information required. 
 
 The Truit Markets 
 
 The man who expects to grow fruit for market 
 ought to understand something about the fruit mar- 
 kets. There are many different markets, and they 
 all have their peculiarities. For a proper understand- 
 ing of the matter it will be best to divide these mar- 
 kets into two general classes: (1) the retail markets, 
 and (2) the wholesale markets. In this country the 
 wholesale markets are much the larger and absorb 
 the great majority of all fruits. The retail markets 
 are numerous and growing, however, and ought to be 
 more commonly and more carefully cultivated. 
 
 There are great advantages in selling fruit at retail 
 whenever the fruit-grower can do it. The expenses 
 of freight, the charges of the commission man, and 
 the loss by various sorts of shrinkage are all elim- 
 inated. These often amount to more than the initial 
 price of the fruit. 
 
 In selling fruit direct to one's own customers at 
 retail one can cultivate a much larger list of vari- 
 eties. Whereas the wholesale grower is obliged to 
 
8 FRUIT-GROAVER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 confine himself to one or two varieties, like Ben 
 Davis or Missouri Pippin, the retail grower can sell 
 almost any good apple. This enables him to cover a 
 much longer season. 
 
 The mistake is often made of thinking that any 
 sort of fruit can be sold in the home market. When 
 one ships apples to the city markets one expects to 
 S'end the best; but poorly graded, poorly colored, sec- 
 ond class fruit will go in a country store or with 
 country customers. One ought to remember that in 
 these direct sales he is held personally responsible to 
 an extent not known in the large markets. Further- 
 more the customer who buys a lot of apples at home 
 in an apple country is entitled to expect som.ething 
 good. It is an old saying that the shoe-maker's chil- 
 dren go barefoot; and it is an unpleasant modern 
 illustration of it that one can buy better apples in 
 New York than in the apple regions, or that one can 
 get better Chicago beef in London than in Chicago. 
 Such things ought not to be, and everybody knows 
 they ought not. If one expects to cultivate his retail 
 trade he must serve his country customers decently, 
 and that means that they must have good goods. 
 
 There are many other ways of selling fruit at 
 retail except to peddle it out on the streets of one's 
 home village. Some men of enterprise gradually 
 work up a list of city customers to whom they ship a 
 certain quantity of fruit every fall. Any right-minded 
 banker in Denver, Kansas City or Pittsburg would 
 sooner have three barrels of fine apples fresh from 
 the grower, whom he knows, than to get the same 
 fruit at half the price from a commission house or 
 groceryman in his own city. There are thousands of 
 barrels of apples sold direct at retail in this manner 
 every fall, and it is one of the best ways ever devised 
 of selling fruit. "Prom producer to consumer direct" 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 9 
 
 has long been the dream of trade; and here we have 
 it in perfection. 
 
 Several growers and packers have recently 
 adopted the plan of selling direct and securing their 
 customers by magazine advertising. Almost all the 
 leading magazines, such as Harper's, Scribner's, etc., 
 last winter carried advertisements of growers and 
 packers who offered to send fine Greenings, Baldwins 
 or Jonathans by express at $3 the box. 
 
 These different methods of reaching the consum- 
 ers direct are coming more and more into favor, and 
 wherever they can be operated they should be freely 
 tried. 
 
 The wholesale market in this country is growing 
 to be rather complicated. It is difficult to give a 
 comprehensive sketch of it in a small compass. 
 Briefly we may say that the grower who has pro- 
 duced a crop of apples has several different methods 
 open for disposing of his crop. The following are 
 the most common: 
 
 1. He may sell the crop on the trees for a lump 
 sum, say $7 50 for the orchard. The buyer picks, 
 sorts and handles the fruit. 
 
 2. He may sell the crop on the trees at a fixed 
 price per barrel. The best way is to make a straight 
 price, say $1.35 a barrel for firsts and seconds, allow- 
 ing the buyer to grade them to suit himself. Some- 
 times two prices are made, say $1,65 for firsts and $1 
 for seconds. In this case there is apt to be some dif- 
 ference of opinion about the grading. In either case 
 the picking and packing may be either at the expense 
 of the buyer or of the seller, as may be agreed. 
 
 3. He may pick, grade and barrel the fruit, and 
 s<ell it to a buyer on the ground. 
 
 4. He may pick, grade and pack the stock and 
 send it direct to a commission man, who sells it for 
 what he can get and returns the proceeds. 
 
10 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 5. He may place the fruit in his own storage 
 house and sell it out during the winter whenever he 
 thinks the market most favorable. 
 
 6. He may send his fruit to a city cold storage 
 house, where he can rent space for 30 to 50 cents a 
 barrel for the season, and he will then draw his fruit 
 out and sell it (usually through a commission dealer) 
 at any time during the winter when he thinks best. 
 
 7. He may sell his fruit on "joint account," if he 
 can find any dealer who will go into the scheme with 
 him . In this case the dealer pays the grower a cer- 
 tain fixed rate per barrel at picking time, which rate 
 is considerably less than the probable selling price of 
 the fruit. It may be $1 a barrel. Then the dealer 
 takes charge of the fruit in storage and sells it off 
 during the winter whenever he has the best oppor- 
 tunities. After the fruit is all sold the dealer and the 
 grower have a final settlement. At this time the 
 amount originally paid the grower is deducted from 
 the net proceeds and the difference is divided equally 
 between the dealer and the grower. This method has 
 been found to work eminently well in a few cases, 
 but it is not capable of wide application. 
 
 8. He may ship his fruit to a foreign market. In 
 the case of apples this usually means Liverpool or 
 London. These foreign shipments may be made 
 through American agents, or dire'ct to salesmen in 
 the cities of final destination. Such shipments should 
 not be made except after correspondence with the 
 agents. During the last few years such shipments 
 have usually paid fair prices, the net receipts being 
 sometimes more and sometimes less than would have 
 been secured by selling the same fruit at home. The 
 foreign market, however, offers a splendid outlet for 
 much of our American fruit crop, and it ought to be 
 carefully cultivated. It is the principal market for 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 11 
 
 the Canadian crop, especially the Nova Scotia apple 
 crop. 
 
 Every man must make his own choice between 
 these various methods of selling. It is not possible to 
 say that one method is better or worse than another. 
 The greater a man's knowledge of the fruit trade and 
 the larger his financial resources the longer he can 
 afford to hold control of his own fruit. If he knows 
 nothing about the business and is obliged to have 
 some money right off to buy chewing tobacco or pay 
 his taxes, it is probably better for him to sell the 
 fruit on the trees or on the ground. 
 
 Ticking Apples 
 
 It is a delicate question to determine just when 
 apples ought to be picked. There are some reasons 
 why it is desirable to pick as early as possible. Early 
 picking reduces the danger from wind storms and 
 saves considerable loss from windfalls under all cir- 
 cumstances. On the other hand, apples color up best 
 when they are left comparatively long on the trees. 
 Many varieties do not color thoroughly until after 
 the leaves thin out considerably. Some varieties can 
 be left to advantage long after the first frost. This 
 depends a good deal, of course, on the variety itself 
 and its habit of holding onto the tree. Northern Spy 
 and Ben Davis hold on extremely late, while Wealthy 
 and Wagener are apt to fall as soon as they are ripe, 
 or even before. 
 
 If apples are to be sent to storage another factor 
 comes into consideration in determining the proper 
 time for picking. It used to be thought that apples 
 should be picked before they were mature in order 
 to have them hold well in cold storage. The 'extens- 
 ive experiments of the Department of Agriculture in 
 recent years have shown that this idea is wrong. 
 Nearly all varieties stand cold storage best if thor- 
 
12 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 oughly ripe and well colored, but not overripe. Such 
 varieties as are subject to scald should be given spe- 
 cial attention in this respect, as it is found that the 
 scald is worse on apples picked before maturity. 
 Thoroughly ripe apples, well colored, are not nearly 
 so much subject to scald as are green, uncolored 
 specimens. 
 
 The importance of having the fruit nicely colored 
 and ripened when picked is so great that many of 
 the best growers who make a specialty of fancy 
 grades have adopted the practice of picking the 
 apple trees over two, three, or even four times. At 
 each picking they take off such fruit as is ripe, well 
 colored, and up to size. The rest of the apples are 
 allowed to hang, and it is found that they will 
 increase greatly in size toward the end of the season 
 and will color up and otherwise improve long after 
 the first lot would have fallen to the ground. Of 
 course this method of picking over the trees several 
 times would be too expensive with cheap fruit and 
 with all poorer grades of apples. It is strongly rec- 
 ommended, however, for early varieties and fancy 
 grades. 
 
 There have been all sorts of mechanical pickers 
 advertised, but none of them has ever become pop- 
 ular. They are of two kinds. The first kind is in- 
 tended to pick a single apple at a time out of the 
 higher branches, and consists- of some sort of a 
 pocket hung on the end of a long pole. These con- 
 trivances are too slow and cumbersome for any com- 
 mercial work. The second style of apple picker 
 presents some modification of the old practice of 
 shaking apples off the trees. It furnishes some kind 
 of a spread held under the branches, upon which the 
 apples are shaken down. While this method is 
 cheap enough to lyiake it commercially available, it 
 is too rough for the exacting demands of present-day 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 13 
 
 business. By all means the best way of putting up 
 commercial apples is to pick them by hand from the 
 trees. 
 
 There is something of a knack in picking apples, 
 but unfortunately expert apple pickers are not often 
 to be hired. The fruit-grower is usually obliged to 
 put up with ordinary day labor and to make up in 
 the carefulness of his own supervision the lack of 
 experience on the part of the pickers. Apple pick- 
 ers usually get the prevailing day wages, that is 
 from one dollar to one dollar and seventy-five cents 
 a day. Apples are sometimes picked by the bushel 
 or barrel, but this practice is not common and is not 
 to be recommended. When it is indulged in, the 
 price paid is from eight to fifteen cents . a barrel. 
 The writer has recently been told, on pretty good 
 authority, of a picker who picked one hundred bar- 
 rels of apples from the trees in one day. Any such 
 slam-banging work as that ought to be prohibited in 
 any well regulated orchard. The ordinary picker 
 will pick from twelve to twenty barrels a day. 
 
 Apples should be picked with the stems on and 
 not torn from the trees. Where the stem is pulled 
 out of the apple, the skin is usually broken and an 
 opportunity for decay given. 
 
 Some pickers prefer to pick into a sack tied over 
 the shoulder. The best contrivance, however, is 
 undoubtedly the swinging-bail half-bushel basket. 
 This is made in various styles, usually of oak or elm 
 splints. These baskets are now used in such large 
 quantities that they can be bought at very reasonable 
 prices. If fine fruit is to be handled with special 
 care, it is worth while to have the baskets padded 
 inside. Each basket should be furnished with a hook 
 made by bending a strong three-eighths inch wire 
 into the form of a very crooked S. This can be 
 hooked over the limb of the tree so as to leave the 
 
14 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 Swing-bail Half-bushel Basket 
 
 picker free to use both hands. When the picking is 
 being done in large trees this same hook allows the 
 basket to be let down to the ground by a strap or 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 15 
 
 rope, where it is emptied by an assistant, thus mak- 
 ing it unnecessary for the picker to climb up and 
 down the tree for every basketful. 
 
 Picking is greatly expedited by the use of suitable 
 ladders. The best ones are of two forms. The first 
 form is the step ladder, which should always have 
 three legs instead of four. These step ladders are 
 made in large quantities now for this particular kind 
 of work. It is probably cheapest to buy ready-made 
 ladders if any considerable number is wanted. Of 
 course, any handy man can make one or two such 
 step ladders if that is more convenient than to buy 
 them. 
 
 The second type of ladder used in apple picking 
 is adapted for taller trees. It is of the ordinary form, 
 that is with two rails. Very often the two rails are 
 brought together at the top, making the top pointed. 
 This makes it easier to adjust the ladder securely 
 into or against the top of the large apple tree. This 
 ladder should also be as light and strong as possible. 
 They are made in large numbers and sold at low 
 prices. 
 
 Various practices prevail with regard to the im- 
 mediate disposal of apples when they are taken from 
 the trees. Sometimes they are placed in piles on 
 the ground. Sometimes they are put into barrels 
 without sorting and left in the orchard; sometimes 
 they are put unsorted into barrels and carried to the 
 temporary storage house; sometimes they are imme- 
 diately sorted, barreled, headed up, and sent to stor- 
 age. If the stock is going to cold storage, which is 
 now the customary method, the last named plan of 
 handling the fruit is undoubtedly the best. It cer- 
 tainly is a mistake in all cases to leave the fruit on 
 the ground even for a few hours. If there is good 
 storage at home and handy by, it is a very good 
 practice to put the apples into barrels unsorted and 
 
16 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 take them immediately to the storage house, where 
 they can be sorted and packed more at leisure. 
 Under all circumstances, however, they ought to be 
 put into as cool a place as possible with the least 
 possible delay. In handling fancy grades of stock in 
 barrels, it is probably best to pick the fruit, sort, 
 pack and head it up at once and put it immediately 
 into cold refrigerator cars, sending these off as expe- 
 ditiously as possible to the cold storage plant. This 
 method is actually practiced on a large scale by some 
 of the best growers. There is no extraordinary 
 expense in it, in fact nothing out of common except 
 the expense of the refrigerator cars, which has been 
 shown to be entirely profitable with good fruit. 
 
 When apples are taken to the temporary storage 
 houses without sorting, it is best to grade them over 
 as soon as convenient. This is inore necessary if the 
 grade of the fruit is low. If there is considerable 
 fungus, they should be sorted at once, all first-grade 
 fruit being put by itself. In case the fruit comes 
 from the trees in extra good condition, with no fun- 
 gus and very few culls, there is not so much urgency 
 in this early sorting. In general, however, it is a 
 mistake to leave the fruit ungraded, as is sometimes 
 done, up to the time when it is sent to market, 
 which may be late in the spring. 
 
 Sorting apples 
 
 The grading of the fruit is extremely important 
 from every point of view. There is hardly anything 
 which affects the price secured more than this. 
 Many fine apples bring outrageously low prices 
 because they are carelessly, ignorantly, or deceit- 
 fully graded and packed. 
 
 Proper grading requires good judgment and con- 
 siderable experience. The man who sorts and packs 
 the fruit should be the expert of the gang. The man- 
 
PACRING AND MARKETING FRUITS 
 
 ager can afford to pay him good wages, although as 
 a matter of fact such men rarely secure more than 
 two dollars a day. 
 
 We have already recommended that the sorting 
 be d-)ne immediately after the fruit is picked, either 
 in the field or in the temporary storage house. Some 
 men spread the fruit on the ground for sorting. It 
 is a good deal better to have sorting tables, which 
 should be three feet wide and six to eight feet long. 
 They should be eight inches deep and should be put 
 on trestles or legs so as to stand about three feet tour 
 inches from the ground. It is good policy to have the 
 bottom and sides padded to prevent bruising of the 
 fruit. We have frequently seen the bottoms made 
 with slats, the idea being to allow the leaves and 
 other rubbish to sift through. This is not a good 
 practical construction. In the first place it weakens 
 the bottom, and in the second place these slats are 
 alwaj^s inclined to bruise the fruit more or less. It 
 is easy enough to dispose of the rubbish in some 
 other way. 
 
 On the table like that here descr bed from two 
 to four barrels of fruit can be spread out at once. It 
 is desirable to have a considerable quantity of fruit 
 within the reach of the man who is sorting in order 
 that he may work rapidly and secure a uniform 
 grade. 
 
 Some of these sorting tables are made with a 
 chute or spout at one end, usually furnished with a 
 cloth spout leading into the barrel, through which 
 the apples are allowed to run. If managed with 
 some care the apples can be handled in this way 
 without severe bruising. In the judgment of the 
 writer it is much better, however, to sort the apples 
 into baskets. These should be of the kind already 
 described for picking. The half-bushel swinging- 
 
18 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 bail basket can be let down into the barrel and the 
 fruit poured out with a minimum of bruising'. 
 
 It is desirable that sorting be done as much as 
 possible by one man. Frequent shifting about on 
 this job always gives an uneven grading of fruit. 
 
 The question of whether a certain apple should 
 be put into the first or into the second grade is 
 largely a matter of judgment in the end. It depends 
 also upon the run of the lot. If the apples are all 
 running large, then medium sized specimens should 
 be put among the seconds. In other words, it is 
 more important that a barrel of apples should be 
 uniform in size than that they should attain any 
 particular size. The question is relative rather than 
 absolute. 
 
 Nevertheless the Apple Shippers' Association has 
 adopted a rule, which is departed from when neces- 
 sary, and which is enforced in critical cases. Their 
 rule is as follows: 
 
 The standard for size for No. 1 apples shall be 
 not less than 2i/^ inches in diameter, and shall 
 include such varieties as Ben Davis, Willow Twig, 
 Baldwin, Greening, and other varieties kindred in 
 size. The standard for such varieties as Romanite, 
 Russet, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and 
 other varieties kindred in size shall not be less than 
 214 inches. And, further. No. 1 apples shall be at 
 time of packing practically free from the action of 
 worms, defacement of surface, or breaking of skin; 
 shall be hand picked from the tree, a bright and 
 normal color and shapely form. 
 
 No. 2 apples shall be hand picked from the tree; 
 shall not be smaller than 214 inches in diameter. The 
 skin must not be broken or the apple bruised. The 
 grade must be faced and packed with as much care 
 as No. 1 fruit. 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 19 
 
 The Apple 'Barrel 
 
 Before g-oing on to see how apples are packed, it 
 will be best to stop a moment to consider the stand- 
 ard apple packages. Of these the barrel stands first. 
 
 The standard American apple barrel has ^.he fol- 
 lowing dimensions: diameter at top, 17i^ inches; 
 circumference at middle, 64 inches; length of staves, 
 2 8 14 inches. This is known everywhere as the stand- 
 ard apple barrel, or the one hundred quart barrel. 
 
 In Nova Scotia, and occasionally in Ontario, an- 
 other barrel is used considerably different from the 
 one just described. It is just a trifle longer, but the 
 most distinctive difference lies in the fact that the 
 staves are straighter. The barrel is made nearly 
 cylindrical. The dimensions of the Nova Scotia bar- 
 rel are: diameter of top, 17i^ inches; diameter at 
 middle, 19 inches; length of staves, 29 inches. The 
 two barrels may be more readily compared in the 
 following table: 
 
 COMPARISON OF NOVA SCOTIA AND AMERI- 
 CAN APPLE BARRELS 
 
 Diameter 
 
 Diameter at 
 
 Length of 
 
 Capacity 
 
 at Top 
 
 Middle 
 
 Staves 
 
 17^ 
 
 20% 
 
 28H 
 
 100 Quarts 
 96 Quarts 
 
 171/2 
 
 19 
 
 29 
 
 American 
 
 Nova Scotia 
 
 The American apple barrel is a stronger package 
 than the Nova Scotia barrel and will stand rough 
 handling, such as loading on and off cars and trucks, 
 better than the straight stave barrel. When it 
 comes to shipping by boat across the Atlantic, how- 
 ever, the Nova Scotia barrel has the call. This is 
 because the longer straighter barrel, when stowed 
 on its yide on shipboard, does not rock so much as 
 the barrel with bended staves. It therefore keeps 
 the fruit in better condition in going across. 
 
20 FRUIT-GKOWEK, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 There is, of course, a certain advantage to the 
 growei 1.1 using a ninety-six quart barrel in place of 
 a one nundred quart barrel. Four quarts of apples 
 are woiih saving. At this rate a man would gain 
 one bail el in twenty-five, which would be a saving 
 of four i.er cent. In most factories any adjustment 
 which accomplishes a saving of four per cent is con- 
 sidered v/'ell worth making. A smaller barrel fur- 
 nishes an even three bushels, which is all the pur- 
 chaser ia really entitled to. The question of adopting 
 the ninety-six quart barrel in the United States has 
 often been discussed, but the proposition has never 
 made niuch headway. It will doubtless be a long 
 time before we ever come to it. , 
 
 Apple barrels are made out of all sorts of lumber, 
 usually from such timber as is not very valuable foi 
 other purposes. Elm is used to a con'^-iderable extent 
 and makes a good barrel. Hickory used to be used, 
 but it is now too expensive. Hemlock and spruce 
 are used to some extent; so is cheap pine. Chestnut 
 and birch are occasionally worked up into barrels. 
 The hoops are usually made out of the same stock, 
 although occasionally timber is worked up into hoop 
 stock which is not fit for anything else. In some 
 parts of the country split hoops are used, in which 
 cas-e young birches and large alders are worked up. 
 
 The best custom for one buying apple barrels is 
 to get them knocked down, staves, heads and hoops 
 separate. It is best, of course, to buy this stock in 
 car lots. It is then delivered on the farm of the 
 grower to be worked up into barrels on the premises. 
 A small cooper shop can be easily rigged up. In the 
 apple growing sections itinerant coopers go about 
 from farm to farm during the summer and autumn 
 working this stock up into barrels. A good handy 
 man on the farm, with a little practice, can learn to 
 put up apple barrels himself. A small kit of tools is 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 21 
 
 required, but nothing very elaborate or expensive. 
 The apple barrels made up in this way cost all the 
 way from fifteen to thirty-five cents each, depending 
 very largely, of course, on the original cost of the 
 stock. During the last two years stock has been 
 very scarce and high, owing, it is said, to the opera- 
 tion of a barrel trust. At present the production of 
 barrel stock seems to be catching up with the de- 
 mand, and the tendency is toward easier prices. 
 
 In many places it is customary to use second- 
 hand barrels for packing apples. The common flour 
 barrels are the ones usually impressed into this ser- 
 vice. A common flour barrel has the same capacity 
 and dimensions as the standard ^pple barrel, and 
 answers the purpose fairly well. However, a second- 
 hand barrel can never be made to look as good as 
 new. In many cases dirty barrels are bought and 
 are used withoAt i^roper cleaning. In such cases 
 they detract greatly from the appearance of the 
 fruit, and the commission man knocks off on the 
 price accordingly. The apple grower who has a con- 
 siderable crop to handle cannot afford to bother 
 with flour barrels. He should by all means use 
 fresh-made apple barrels. 
 
 Apple 3oxes 
 
 During recent years there has been a good deal of 
 discussion as to the merits of the apple box. Many 
 growers believe that there is a future for apples 
 packed in this way. While the use of the box has 
 been strenuously objected to in some quarters, espe- 
 cially by the commission men and fruit dealers, it 
 has not always been clear that their advice was dis- 
 interested. In fact, it is common knowledge that in 
 some cases they have bought apples in barrels and 
 repacked them in boxes, making quite a profit for 
 themselves thereby. The writer feels justified in 
 
22 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 relating here an item of personal experience. Two 
 years ago we had some Gravenstein, Mcintosh and 
 Fameuse apples ready for market in October. We 
 wrote to the commission men with whom we were 
 doing business at that time — a thoroughly reliable 
 firm, by the way — asking them if they would advise 
 us shipping in boxes. Their reply was about as fol- 
 lows: "The fruit is yours. You can do as you please 
 with it. Our advice would be, however, not to use 
 any boxes." Inasmuch as we were anxious to learn 
 how the fruit would handle, and as we had the boxes 
 on hand, we divided the shipment, sending one-half 
 in barrels and one-half in boxes. The fruit was all 
 of the same grade, but that in boxes was wrapped in 
 paper. The whole lot was sent to the commission 
 man whose advice has just been quoted. When the 
 returns came back we found that the barrels had 
 sold for $2 each, which was the top quotation at the 
 time; but the boxes had also sold for $2 each. In 
 other words, one bushel of apples nicely wrapped 
 and packed in boxes brought just as much as three 
 bushels of the same fruit in a barrel. 
 
 The three boxes cost 45 cents. A barrel at that 
 time was worth 35 to 40 cents. A little more time 
 was consumed in packing the three boxes than in 
 packing one barrel. The cost of the paper wrapping 
 may be fairly disregarded. 
 
 The great advantage of the box lies not so much 
 in the fact that it displays the fruit to better advant- 
 age, for it does not always do so, but in the fact that 
 it presents a quantity of fruit which many consum- 
 ers prefer to purchase. There are very few city 
 families who find it convenient or economical to buy 
 a barrel at one time. The quantity "is more than the 
 family will consume without waste, and there is no 
 place in the house where there is room for the barrel 
 to stand. A bushel of apples, however, is not too 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 23 
 
 much for the smallest family, and a neat square box 
 can be easily stowed even in a New York City flat. 
 
 Experience has demonstrated that the apple box 
 has come to stay . It is bound to be used, and its use 
 will be extended. This does not mean, however, that 
 it will supplant the apple barrel. It certainly will 
 not do so, at least for many years to come. The 
 apple box must be used only for fancy grades of 
 fruit. This is not so much because the package costs 
 more, as because the expense of selling it is some- 
 what greater and because the person buying a pack- 
 age of this kind expects it to contain something 
 good. If the purchaser buys a box of apples and 
 finds the fruit inferior, his resentment is much 
 greater than if he has been cheated on a barrel of 
 apples. Most purchasers have grown accustomed to 
 being more or less swindled on apples in barrels. 
 
 A great many different boxes have been proposed. 
 These have been of different sizes, different forms, 
 and differently constructed. We seem to be settling 
 down rather rapidly, however, to a bushel box of 
 standard size and construction. This box, which is 
 now the most common, has the following inside di- 
 mensions: 10x11x20 inches. This gives a capacity of 
 2,200 cubic inches. A standard bushel contains 
 2150.42 cubic inches, so that the box furnishes a little 
 over the standard struck bushel (not a heaping 
 bushel). 
 
 A somewhat larger box is rather commonly used 
 in Canada, but it is not to be recommended. 
 
 These boxes are made with the ends of three- 
 quarter inch stuff, and with the top, bottom and 
 sides of lighter stuff. These last may run anywhere 
 from one-quarter to one-half inch, but three-eighths- 
 inch stuff is about right. 
 
 There have been some experiments recently with 
 smaller boxes, especially with half bushel sizes. The 
 
24 FRIIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEIPH, MO. 
 
 writer feels confident tliat something of this kind 
 will eventually find a place in the market, but noth- 
 ing yet has been accomplished which can be given 
 general recommendation. 
 
 The bushel basket has been used to some extent, 
 especially in the Chicago market, for apples, and has 
 some advantages. It is easy to handle and pleases 
 the customer. Such bushel baskets with covers cost 
 about $12 a hundred. Half bushel baskets of the 
 same form cost from $10 to $11 a hundred. 
 
 Packing Apples 
 
 A man who packs apples should have some expe- 
 rience, and the judgment born of it, in-order to do 
 his work well. Next to the man who grades the 
 fruit, the one who packs it has the greatest respon- 
 sibility. Many a sale of good fruit has been spoiled 
 by poor packing . When fruit is to be shipped some 
 distance, as across the ocean, the packing must be 
 irreproachable. If barrels are poorly packed the 
 fruit works loose, becomes bruised, and in many 
 instances quite worthless. 
 
 In packing a barrel with apples the barrel is 
 placed on its head with the bottom out. Some good 
 clean apples are put in for "facers." It is best to 
 pour in 20 to 30 such apples at the start — just about 
 enough to cover the head. The packer then places 
 these in even circular rows, beginning around the 
 outside and working in, setting each specimen with 
 the stem down. It is important to see that the apples 
 in this first tier — the facers — fit snugly together. 
 Then a second tier is put on, facing stems down like 
 the first. Now the real filling of the barrel begins. 
 The sorted fruit, preferably placed in the swing-bail 
 half-bushel basket already recommended, is poured 
 in. This basket can be let down into the barrel and 
 emptied with the least possible disturbance of the 
 
PACKING AND 3IARKETING FRUITS 25 
 
 faced layers. After each half bushel of loose fruit 
 has been poured in the barrel should be vigorously 
 shaken. This shaking is essential. It settles the 
 fruit together, and prevents the otherwise disastrous 
 loosening when the barrel is shipped. When the 
 barrel is practically full the top layer (which will be 
 the bottom layer after the barrel is packed), is faced 
 stems out in as neat a manner as possible. When 
 the apples are all in and this last layer of facers on, 
 the fruit should stand up two or three inches above 
 the top of the barrel. 
 
 The head Cor what is really the bottom of the 
 ban el) is then put in place. A barrel press is now 
 necessary. There are two types of barrel press in 
 common use — the screw and the lever press. The 
 writer prefers the latter. With either one the head- 
 ing proceeds in the same manner. The upper hoops 
 of the barrel are slightly loosened. The head is 
 pressed down even with the chines, the hoops are 
 driven home, and some sort of cleat is tacked in to 
 help hold the head in place. 
 
 The barrel is then marked with the stencil of the 
 t,rower or packer, and with the name of the variety 
 and grade. Sometimes it is also marked with the 
 no me of the dealer to whom it is to be shipped. It 
 i? then ready for delivery, either to the buyer or to 
 the storage house. 
 
 In packing apples in boxes the fruit is all put in 
 by hand, especially when it is to be wrapped in 
 paper. Care must be taken to get the boxes full. It 
 u? 'even harder to make a box of apples full and 
 tight than a barrel. Some shippers cover the packed 
 fruit with paper and make it solid by putting in a 
 duantity of excelsior next to the cover. This is prac- 
 ticed more especially when sending boxes across the 
 ocean, but is not to be generally recommended.^ 
 
 When apples are nicely packed In boxes they 
 
26 
 
 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 should go in in rows and tiers just as oranges are 
 packed. On the Pacific Coast, where all these tricks 
 are better understood than on this side of the Great 
 Divide, they do this think excellently well. Mr. E. C. 
 Dickerson of North Yakima, Wash., in the October, 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 1904, number of The Fruit-Grower told how they 
 do it there. Here is his description: 
 
 There are some thirty or forty sizes of apples, 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 
 
 27 
 
 covering all the varieties and their various sizes or 
 grades, which can be packed into the standard apple 
 box in thirty or forty different styles. For commer- 
 cial packing and shipping requirements most of the 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 ordinary grades of apples grown can be handled in 
 seven or eight different styles of packing, of which 
 six different styles are shown and described below. 
 Figure 1 shows a four-row box of apples. This 
 
28 
 
 FRUIT-GROWER. ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 box is the largest sized apple that can be packed into 
 the four-row grade. The box contains just ninety- 
 six apples. There are nine grades of the four-row 
 apple, the smaller of which is shown in Figure 2 and 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 contains 128 apples. Every layer in this box of 128 
 is packed in the same manner as that shown by the 
 top layer. In the box containing ninety-six the width 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 
 
 29 
 
 is too great to allow of their cheeks being all turned 
 up, so in the lay.ers below, according to the size of 
 the apples, one or more of the layers are placed 
 stem down. 
 
 Figure 3 shows the largest apples that can be 
 packed into the five-row grade. The box contains 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 just 140 specimens. This grade cannot be packed 
 with a long and narrow apple, as there must be four 
 layers in this box. 
 
30 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 Figure 4 shows the smallest five-row apple that 
 can be packed in this grade. The box contains five 
 layers and 250 apples. All the layers in this grade 
 are placed in the same manner as shown in the top 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 layer. This grade cannot be packed with a long 
 apple. The five-row grades, which are sometimes 
 called straight fives, are found in twenty-three dif- 
 
PACKIING AND MARKETING FRUITS 
 
 31 
 
 ferent grades reaching from 140 down to 250 speci- 
 mens in each box. 
 
 Figure 5 shows an odd grade of five-row apples. 
 Without this style of a pack it is almost impossible 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 to pack all the apples from your orchard and have 
 them all packed neatly and correctly. The box 
 shown in Figure 5 contains 213 apples. In this 
 
32 FllUIT-GUOWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 grade the center of every apple in the third and fifth 
 layers conies directly over the center of its corres- 
 ponding apple in the first layer. The center of every 
 apple in the fourth layer conies directly over the 
 center of its mate in the second layer. There are 
 three grades of this style. In one the first row will 
 contain eight apples, the second seven, the third eight 
 again and then seven and eight, making a total of 188 
 apples in the box. In the second grade of this style, 
 the first, last and every row will contain eight apples 
 with the box holding just 200 specimens. In the 
 third grade of this style the first, third and fifth rows 
 will contain nine apples, while the second and fourth 
 will contain only eight, making the box hold 21.3 
 apples. 
 
 The sixth and last style of packing shown is rep- 
 resented by Figure 6. This box will contain seventy- 
 two apples. Only the first of its four layers is 
 shown. The core of all apples in the third layer will 
 come directly over their mates in the first layer, but 
 not over the cores of any apples in the second layer. 
 
 Nothing has been said of the various grades of 
 six-row apples, as they are too small to offer to the 
 apple-eating public, though some pack and ship them 
 to the penny fruit stands. The top layers of the 
 apples in any of the grades must be high enough 
 that when the cover is nailed on, the cover will touch 
 each and every apple in that layer and touch it hard 
 enough to compel every apple in the box to remain 
 in touch with its neighbor apple in the box, the walls 
 of the box itself, or both, as the case may be. 
 throughout its entire period of transportation. 
 
 When a box is finished packed the apples at the 
 end of the box must not be more than an inch above 
 the top of the box, while the center of the box should 
 be from one to two inches higher, so as to make a 
 beautiful curve for the top of the box, which helps 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 33 
 
 to hold the apples in the box tog-ether more snugly. 
 Though every person has not the gift for the making 
 of a good apple packer, most of them after a careful 
 reading of the above can after more or less practice 
 succeed in packing- neatly and rapidly. But remem- 
 ber practice makes perfect. In box apple packing 
 rapidity and perfection do not go hand in hand. 
 
 Apple Storage 
 
 The storage of apples presents one of the largest 
 factors in the modern apple business, because the 
 bulk of the trade is with winter fruit, which is 
 always stored for a g-reater or less period. Even 
 from the first there has been some storage. In olden 
 days apples used to be stored in piles in the orchard, 
 in pits in the ground, in bulk in the hay inow, in bins 
 in the cellar, and in various other ways. Nearly all 
 of these old-fashioned ways are still practiced to 
 some extent, although they have very little influence 
 on the moderji anple business. 
 
 Following these crude methods of storage there 
 came into practice a few years ago different methods 
 of handling apples in specially made storage houses. 
 At the beginning- these were seldom cr never sup- 
 plied with artificial refrigeration. The theory of 
 construction was simply to provide a well insulated 
 wall and then to cool down the storage chamber by 
 ventilation. Such houses or storage connpartments 
 are no wall classed together under the name "com- 
 mon storage." "Common storage" is distinguished 
 from "cold storage," the latter referring to such 
 houses or chambers as are supplied with artificial 
 refrigeration. 
 
 There has been a strong tendency in the last few 
 years to do away with the common storage in favor 
 of the genuine cold storage. Great improvements 
 have undoubtedly been made in the process of cold 
 
34 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 storage, and the matter is much better understood 
 than it was a few years ago. Such storage is there- 
 fore both safer and cheaper. Nevertheless the com- 
 mon storage has not altogether gone out of use. One 
 of the largest dealers in New York State — a man of 
 wide practical experience in all systems of storage — 
 recently told the writer that he would as soon have 
 apples in common storage as in the best cold storage. 
 
 n HI 
 
 % In 
 
 1 
 
 Fig. 7 — Mr. Green's Storage House 
 
 This is perhaps an extreme view, but it shows that 
 the difference between the two systems is not so 
 g: aat as we have sometimes been led to believe. 
 
 The construction of a house for common storage 
 may best be understood by examining one of two con- 
 crete cases. Figure 7 represents the storage house 
 of Mr. Charles L. Green, East Wilton, Maine, which 
 was built in 1903. This building is 30x40 feet, with 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 35 
 
 12 foot posts upon the sills. It also has a cellar or 
 lower story dug out of a gravel bank and facing 
 toward the south. There is a large door to this base- 
 ment story so that a load of apples can be backed in 
 without unloading. The cellar walls are b*uilt of 
 quarried granite laid solid in cement. The underpin- 
 ning is of granite laid in Portland cement and lined 
 with brick . The basement will hold one thousand 
 barrels, and the first floor will hold approximately 
 the same amount. 
 
 The building is sheathed on the outside with 
 matched hemlock covered with thick sheathing paper 
 and this in turn covered with clapboards and well 
 painted. The studding were also sheathed again 
 inside and then a new course of studding set around 
 inside of the first and sheathed again. This gives two 
 dead air spaces and three matched sheathings besides 
 the paper, clapboards and paint. The floor between 
 the storage room and cellar is double, with hemlock 
 for the under course and matched birch on top with 
 heavy paper between. Both storage rooms have 
 double doors and windows with matched board 
 blinds inside. There is an attic room which will 
 accommodate twelve hundred empty barrels. The 
 building cost twelve hundred dollars. 
 
 Another very excellent building for the common 
 storage of apples which has been frequently described 
 and which is certainly a model of its kind is that 
 shown in figure 8, and owned by Mr. T. L. Kinney, 
 South Hero, Vermont. This house was built in 188 8 
 and stands 30x50 feet on the ground. It has a base- 
 ment which will accommodate 1,000 barrels, and the 
 main floor will receive an equal number. There is 
 an attic for the storage of empty barrels, cooper's 
 stock, etc. The walls are constructed in the follow- 
 ing manner: The studding are 3x4 inches. On the 
 outside is a course of one-inch matched pine covered 
 
36 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 with building paper and again with clapboards. On 
 the sides of the studs small furring strips are run 
 in. Upon these a lath and plaster coat is made from 
 stud to stud. This produces a double dead air space. 
 On the inside of the stud is another one-inch course 
 
 Fig, 8 — Mr. T. L. Kinney's Storage House 
 
 of matched pine covered by building paper and by 
 one-half-inch boards all over the inside. There are 
 glass windows and heavy matched board blinds. This 
 house cost fifteen hundred dollars and has been 
 entirely successful. 
 
 Various other houses more or less like the two 
 here described have been built in all parts of the 
 country. So far as the writer knows these have 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 37 
 
 proyed uniformly successful in the northern states 
 where they have been well built and intelligently 
 managed. In the southern states they are less satis- 
 factory, and in any case they are unreliable when 
 mismanaged. 
 
 The two important things to be looked after in 
 building these houses for common storage are (1) 
 insulation, and (2) ventilation. 
 
 Insulation is provided as described above by mak- 
 ing very tight walls with dead air spaces. Formerly 
 it was recommended to fill the spaces with sawdust 
 or some similar material. This is now known to be 
 inadvisable. 
 
 Ventilation should be secured by having a reason- 
 able number of windows which may be easily opened 
 ana shut. These should be near the floor or else 
 special ventilators should be provided at the floor 
 level, opening in all sides of the building. An ade- 
 quate discharge for warm air must also be provided 
 for from the upper part of the storage room. This is 
 usually secured by ventilating shafts running from 
 the storage room to the roof. A circulation of ait- 
 can be secured at critical times with this construc- 
 tion by lighting a lamp and placing it on a small 
 shelf in the ventilating shaft. The windows of such 
 storage houses are opened at night when the tem- 
 perature is low and are closed early in the morning 
 before the thermometer goes up. In this way a 
 storage house can be thoroughly cooled off and can 
 be held at a very uniform temperature when once it 
 is cooled . Of course the cooling is not so positive as 
 with artificial refrigeration, nor can it be so quickly 
 accomplished. 
 
 The construction of cold storage houses with arti- 
 ficial refrigeration is rather a complicated matter, 
 which even the refrigeration engineers do not under- 
 stand any too well. It would be going too far to take 
 
38 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 up that matter here, especially as very few apple 
 growers ever undertake to build such storage houses. 
 
 The ordinary practice in dealing with cold storage 
 is for the grower or buyer of the apples to send them 
 to a refrigerating house in the city. Space in these 
 houses is rented. The ordinary price is from thirty 
 to fifty cents a barrel for the season. A certain tem- 
 perature is guaranteed. The apples may then be 
 removed whenever the owner desires. 
 
 It should be clearly understood by everyone who 
 undertakes the cold storage of apples that the func- 
 tion of the storage house is merely to maintain a 
 uniform temperature of a desired degree throughout 
 the compartment and during the storage season. 
 Cold storage will not make number one fruit out 
 of number two; nor will it altogether prevent the 
 ' natural process of deterioration. It simply checks 
 the ordinary processes of decay. It appears that 
 many persons have expected too much of cold storage 
 in the past. 
 
 While it is not necessary for the apple grower to 
 know about the different systems of mechanical 
 refrigeration, it is, nevertheless, a matter of consid- 
 erable interest to him. Storage rooms are sometimes 
 cooled directly with ice, although the direct cooling 
 systems are not in very common use. Usually the 
 rooms are cooled by the evaporation of the liquid 
 gases. This gas is allowed to evaporate in or near 
 the storage room and during its evaporation it takes 
 up the heat from the room or fruit stored in it, 
 thereby lowering the temperature. 
 
 The following description of the methods usually 
 •employed is taken from Mr. G. Harold Powell's bul- 
 letin entitled "The Apple in Cold Storage." 
 
 The refrigerating gases generally used are anhy- 
 drous ammonia, sulphuric acid, and carbonic acid 
 (also known as carbon anhydrid and carbon dioxid). 
 
PACIiING AND MARKETING FRUITS 39 
 
 The cold temperature in the warehouses is usually 
 produced by either of two methods, commonly known 
 as the compression and the absorption systems. 
 
 The compression system takes its name from the 
 fact that the refrigerating gas — whether ammonia, 
 carbonic acid, or sulphuric acid — is first compressed 
 in a machine called a compressor. Heat is generated 
 by the compression; the gas is then cooled and con- 
 densed in pipes or coils called the condenser, either 
 Immersed in water or having water running over 
 them, and this converts the gas into a liquid. The 
 liquefied gas then passes an expansion valve to pipes 
 or coils called the refrigerator cooling coils or cooler, 
 where it is evaporated by the heat which is with- 
 drawn from the surroundings. The gas formed by 
 the evaporation of the liquid returns to the com- 
 pressor, is again condensed, then re-evaporated, and 
 the cycle of refrigeration is repeated over and over. 
 
 In the absorption system the gas is obtained by 
 heating strong aqua ammonia in a still, thereby 
 driving off the ammonia gas. The gas is then re- 
 duced in a condenser to a liquid in a manner sim- 
 ilar to the compression system. The liquefied am- 
 monia produces refrigeration by evaporating in the 
 cooling coils, and the gas is then absorbed by weak 
 aqua ammonia in coils called an absorber. The 
 resulting strong liquor is then pumped back to the 
 still. The cycle of refrigeration is repeated contin- 
 uously, and consists, first, in the generation of a gas 
 by heating strong aqua ammonia in a still; second, 
 in condensing the gas which is deposited from the 
 water to a liquid in the condenser coils; third, in its 
 evaporation to a gas in the cooling or refrigerator 
 coils; fourth, in its absorption by the weak aqua 
 ammonia in the absorber; and fifth, ttte ammonia 
 liquor is piped to the still and redistilled. 
 
 There are three general methods of producing the 
 
40 FRUIT-GKOWEIi, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 desired temperatures in cold-storage rooms, and 
 these are known as the direct-expansion, the brine- 
 circulating, and the indirect or air-circulating sys- 
 tems. All three systems may be used iri a cold-stor- 
 age plant, and in a given room or compartment the 
 air-circulating system is sometimes used in connec- 
 tion with the brine or the direct-expansion systems. 
 
 In the direct-expansion system the liquefied gas 
 evaporates directly in the cooling refrigerator coils 
 or pipes which are placed in the refrigerator rooms. 
 The heat used in the evaporation of the gas is 
 absorbed from the room or from its contents, and the 
 temperature is thereby reduced. The gas then 
 returns to the compressor in the compression sys- 
 tem, or to the absorber in the absorption system, and 
 after being distilled in the latter case' begins the 
 refrigerating cycle anew. 
 
 In the brine-circulating system, the liquefied gas, 
 instead of evaporating directly in coils in the storage 
 room, evaporates in pipes surrounded by brine, or In 
 a brine cooler. The heat used in the evaporation of 
 the gas is absorbed from the brine rather than from 
 the room and its contents, as in the direct-expansion 
 system. The cold brine is then pumped to coils in 
 the storage room and the heat of the room and its 
 contents is absorbed by the cold brine. The warm 
 brine is then returned to the tank or cooler from 
 which it started and is recooled, while the gas 
 returns to the condenser or to the absorber to renew 
 the cycle of refrigeration. 
 
 In the indirect or air-circulating system the air 
 in a well-insulated room, which is sometimes called 
 a coil room or a "bunker room," is first cooled, either 
 by the direct-expansion or by the brine-circulating 
 system. The cold air of the coil room is then forced 
 through ducts to the storage rooms. After passing 
 through the storage rooms it is returned by ducts to 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 41 
 
 the coil room to be recooled and purified and to 
 begin the circuit anew. 
 
 There are many modifications in the details of 
 these systems when applied to storage houses, but as 
 this publication does not deal primarily with the 
 engineering side of refrigeration it is the purpose to 
 set forth approximately the fundamental principles 
 on which the most common storage systems are 
 based rather than to discuss their application or their 
 respective merits. 
 
 Extensive experiments in the cold storage of fruit, 
 especially apples, carried on by the United States 
 Department of Agriculture under the supervision of 
 Mr. G. Harold Powell, have added materially to our 
 knowledge of the subject in recent years. These 
 experiments have strongly emphasized the import- 
 ance of immediate storage. The fruit should be put 
 into the storage room with the least possible delay 
 after picking. Indeed, we know of one large apple 
 grower who has cooled refrigerator cars standing on 
 the railroad track waiting before picking begins. 
 Just as fast as the fruit can be sorted it is barreled 
 and hauled directly into these refrigerator cars. 
 These cars are run right into the refrigerating house 
 to be unloaded, so that the apples are out of cold 
 storage for only a few hours at most, from the time 
 they are picked until they are sold. 
 
 It used to be thought that a temperature of 40 to 
 4 2 degrees was best for storing apples, but recent 
 experience has shown conclusively that the temper- 
 ature in the storage chamber should be 31 or 32 
 degrees, and that this should be maintained with 
 the least possible variation throughout the storage 
 season. ^ 
 
 There is a diversity qf custom with respect to put- 
 ting up the apples for storage. Usually they are 
 stored in barrels, but the reason for this is often that 
 
42 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 the fruit handles more easily rather than that men 
 have any notion that the apples ' will keep better 
 when put up in that way. In fact, a good many fruit- 
 growers who practice home storage of apples habit- 
 ually store the fruit in bins. This is not the best 
 method . In fact, it may fairly be questioned whether 
 storage in bins is ever good practice. If fruit is to 
 be stored for a short time only it is better to have 
 it in a small package. If the package is open or 
 ventilated, so much the better. The cold air reaches 
 all parts of the receptacle and cools off all the fruit. 
 If apples are to remain some time in storage, how- 
 ever, it is better to have them in closed packages. 
 Probably the best that can be done is to have them 
 headed up in barrels. In open packages the fruit is 
 liable to be injured by wilting. 
 
 Wrapping of the fruit in papers as it is put into 
 the package nearly always helps it to keep better. It 
 extends the life of apples in storage, under favorable 
 conditions, a month or more. 
 
 A word ought to be said in this connection with 
 regard to the scald. This is a malady which appears 
 badly on stored fruit sometimes, especially in certain 
 varieties, such as Rhode Island Greening. It seems 
 to show worse on fruit that is picked before it is well 
 colored and thoroughly ripe. A warm temperature 
 in the storage room also tends to promote the devel- 
 opment of the scald. 
 
 Teaches 
 
 It requires exceedingly nice judgment to know 
 just when to pick a peach for market. For eating 
 out of hand a peach should be picked early in the 
 morning, just about sunrise, of that day when it is so 
 ripe that it would fall to the ground if left till noon. 
 Unfortunately this good, though somewhat imprac- 
 ticable, rule cannot be applied in picking peaches for 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 43 
 
 market. Especially when peaches have to be shipped 
 a thousand miles or more, and must lie in the pack- 
 ages some ten days or two weeks between the orchard 
 and the table where they are eaten, it is manifestly 
 impossible to ripen them thoroughly on the trees. 
 The ideal, of course, is to leave them on the trees 
 just as long as possible, and still get them to the 
 consumer without prejudice. This means that the 
 nearer the market the riper the fruit may be allowed 
 to become, while the farther away is the market the 
 greener the fruit must be picked. 
 
 It is undeniable that mistakes are made every year 
 on both sides. Some fruit is picked too soft and 
 some is sent to market too green. The consumers, 
 at least, see more of the latter mistake, and it seems 
 to be fair to urge on shippers at the present day the 
 propriety of ripening their peaches better before 
 shipping. Nothing but long, and probably expens- 
 ive, experience can determine just what stage of ma- 
 turity is best. This varies also with different varieties 
 and with the weather. Some varieties, like Elberta, 
 can be allowed to ripen considerably further than 
 other softer varieties, like Carman. In hot, muggy 
 weather the fruit has to be picked greener to pre- 
 vent the spread of rot. 
 
 The fruit should be picked as early in the morn- 
 ing as possible. This is a good rule anywhere. It is 
 especially important for fruit which is to stand long 
 shipment. 
 
 The half-bushel basket with swinging handle is 
 best for picking peaches. There is hardly any excep- 
 tion to this statement . 
 
 Peach pickers nearly always work by the day. If 
 the picking is to be done by the basket the price will 
 have to be agreed on in each case. There is no recog- 
 
44 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 Georgia Peach CaiTier 
 
 nized price for this work, like there is for picking 
 strawberries in the strawberry sections. 
 
 There are several different packages regularly 
 used for peaches, but three types are much the most 
 common. These are as follows: 
 
 The Georgia carrier, or six-basket crate. This 
 crate holds six four-quart baskets. The baskets are 
 made of light veneer and are without handles. Three 
 of these side by side, cover the bottom of the light 
 slat crate. A light slat staging is laid on top of the 
 three bottom baskets as soon as they are put in, and 
 three more baskets go on top. The cover Is then 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 45 
 
 nailed or stapled on, the crate is marked with the 
 name of the variety and grade, and the package is 
 ready for the car. 
 
 The Jersey basket. This is a slat basket made in 
 the form of the inverted frustum of a cone. In 
 other words, it is a round basket with a flat bottom, 
 wider at the top than at the bottonn. These baskets 
 are made in various sizes, from 8 quarts to 32 quarts. 
 The 16-quart size is probably the best, and is most 
 used. The baskets are sometimes covered with slat 
 covers, but oftener are simply covered over with 
 
 Jersey Peach Basket . 
 
 mosquito netting. Occasionally fancy peaches are 
 packed in 10-quart, 14-quart or 16-quart Jersey bas- 
 kets, and these are put up by twos in "pony" crates. 
 In some sections of the country, -notably TVest Vir- 
 ginia, this package is rather popular. The writer 
 confesses himself unable to see anything really prac- 
 tical in it. 
 
 The Climax, or Michigan basket. This is the third 
 form of the peach basket. It closely resembles the 
 
46 
 
 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 popular climax grape basket. It is made of veneer, 
 with a stiff handle. These are used in various sizes, 
 but the 8-lb. and the 10-lb. sizes are much the com- 
 monest. These baskets are sometimes covered with 
 slat tops, but oftener with mosquito netting. This 
 package has the advantage of going direct to the con- 
 sumer with the least possible trouble to him. It is a 
 more expensive package to handle than either of the 
 others. 
 
 Climax Peach Basket 
 
 Peaches are graded according to s'ze and color. 
 All peaches of any basket should be of the same size, 
 and all first-grade peaches should be well colored. 
 Two or three grades' are made, as the character of 
 the fruit may require or the fancy of the shipper 
 dictate. 
 
 The fruit is usually graded in a packing shed, 
 whither it is brought as fast as picked. In the shed 
 it should be poured out on narrow tables for sorting. 
 These ought to be padded to prevent bruising of the 
 fruit. If several packers are to work together 
 the tables should be divided into sections of conveni- 
 ent length. The tables usually slant toward the 
 packers, which helps to roll the fruit toward them, 
 and which also gives them a better view of the fruit. 
 Considerable skill is required to sort and pack 
 
 I 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 47 
 
 peaches rapidly and accurately, and well trained 
 packers receive good wages. 
 
 Nowadays, when peaches are to be shipped any 
 distance, they are usually forwarded in refrigerator 
 cars. This is especially the practice in Georgia, 
 Texas and California. Good refrigerator car service 
 is now almost a necessity to the peach business, and 
 has been the means of extending both the area of 
 peach growing and the period of consumption very 
 considerably. 
 
 Peaches may also be kept for a certain time in 
 cold storage. Powell's experiments have shown that 
 firm, well-colored fruit will keep from two to three 
 weeks in a temperature of 32 degrees. It is possible 
 to keep peaches even longer than this under excep- 
 tionally favorable conditions, but for commercial pur- 
 poses even two weeks' storage is hardly to be gen- 
 erally recommended. Storage will often help, how- 
 ever, to tide over a temporary glut in the market; 
 and such storage certainly furnishes a material addi- 
 tion to our equipment for handling the peach crop. 
 
 Tlums 
 
 Plums ripen through a long season. This fact 
 presents a certain difficulty in picking and shipping 
 them. For home use plums should be allowed to 
 hang on the trees as long as possible. They should 
 be thoroughly ripe when picked. Even for shipping 
 to market certain varieties are frequently picked too 
 green. This is apt to be the case with the Damsons, 
 German Prune, Pellenberg and similar varieties, 
 which take on a heavy color long before they are 
 really mature. On the other hand, some varieties 
 are best picked for market at a period more or less in 
 advance of maturity. The Burbank plum is an ex- 
 ample. This variety can be picked a week before it 
 is ripe, and will then mature in a satisfactory condi-' 
 
18 FRl IT- GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 tion in a storage house or in a package. This plan 
 of picking before the plums are fully ripe may often 
 be resorted to with great advantage when plums are 
 retting badly. In this way a considerable portion of 
 the crop may often be saved from rot. 
 
 Plums should be picked w'th the stems on, when- 
 eA'er that is possible. Many varieties, however, do 
 not hold to the stems. In such cases the removal of 
 stf ms at picking time does no harm except that it 
 may injure the general appearance of the faced fruit 
 to a limited degree. 
 
 Plums should be picked in the early morning if 
 possible, while they are cool, and should be trans- 
 ferred at once to storage or to a cool place. If they 
 are to be shipped to market they should be graded, 
 packed, and sent off as expeditiously as possible. 
 
 A good many growers make a great mistake by 
 not grading plums. It is customary with many fruit 
 men, who are otherwise careful with such things, to 
 send plums to market just as they come from the 
 tree. Now the plum is essentially fancy 'fruit, and 
 requires such special attentions as are always due a 
 fancy article. Plums should not only be graded, but 
 the best ones, at least when packed in small pack- 
 ages, should be carefully faced. In some cases it is 
 even best to wrap the individual fruits in paper. 
 
 There is no standard package for plums. Each 
 grower will choose his own package with reference 
 to the fruit he has to ship and the demands of his 
 market. The best California plums are usually sent 
 to market in a special square box of wood veneer 
 holding about two quarts. Many of the eastern 
 growers have found the common quart box used for 
 strawberries to be the most satisfactory for plums. 
 The writer has used with much satisfaction the 3-lb. 
 bail-less grape basket. The 4-quart bail-less basket, 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 49 
 
 such as is used in Georgia peach carriers, is also 
 entirely satisfactory for shipping plums. These three 
 packages last named may be conveniently crated in 
 the ordinary strawberry crate, and this makes a con- 
 venient and good package for shipment. Other 
 packages which have been used for plums are the 
 5 and 10-lb. Climax grape basket with stiff handles; 
 diamond splint basket in various sizes, and the Jer- 
 sey peach basket, especially in the 8, 12, and 16-qt. 
 sizes. For a nearby retail market for plums of ordi- 
 nary quality the writer prefers the 16-qt. Jersey 
 peach basket. For consignment to city markets, at 
 least in the eastern states, the best results are se- 
 cured with small packages, down to one quart, 
 packed in small crates. Packages holding one-half 
 bushel or less seem to find the most favor. 
 
 Plums are seldom held in cold storage; but in any 
 case where a delay in marketing is desirable the ben- 
 efits of cold storage may be adopted. The length 
 of time which plums will keep in cold storage varies 
 greatly. If they are soft, over-ripe, and affected with 
 rot, it is hardly worth while to store them at all. On 
 the other hand, such varieties as Fellenburg, Brad- 
 shaw, Grand Duke, etc., when in good condition, 
 would doubtless keep without serious deterioration 
 from one to two months in good storage. 
 
 We have never known of plums being shipped in 
 carlots to distant markets. We have seen Mr. Hale, 
 however, sending partial carloads in the same car 
 with peaches from his Georgia orchard to New York. 
 In such cases plums should be given the benefits of 
 the refrigerator car service, just as peaches are. 
 
 Quinces 
 
 Quinces should not be picked until they are ripe 
 and well colored. This direction seems so obvious 
 that one would hardly believe how often it is disre- 
 
50 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 garded. Green, unripe quinces are about as unat- 
 tractive as anything that can be bought on a fruit 
 stand. In order to get the fruit in a suitable condi- 
 tion for selling, it is often necessary to pick over the 
 trees two or three times. Such extra pickings are 
 well worth while. 
 
 When the fruit is picked, it is immediately sorted, 
 packed, and sent to storage or market. Long storage 
 is seldom profitable, since the demand for quinces 
 comes nearly all at the time of the quince harvest. 
 
 The fruit should be very carefully graded since the 
 market for quinces is always a fastidious one. Speci- 
 mens which are at all bruised or soiled by fungus 
 should be discarded and the remaining specimens 
 graded according to size. The discarded fruit is not 
 worthless, however. It makes excellent jelly, and 
 is good even for preserving and canning. Of course, 
 it will have to be sold at a lower price than first- 
 grade fruit, but it will still bring a good revenue 
 and will not damage the sale of the first-grade stuff. 
 
 It has been practiced in past years to ship quinces 
 in apple barrels. Half barrels have sometimes been 
 used. Neither of these packages is satisfactory. Both 
 should be discarded. Quinces should always be sold 
 in a small package. Twenty-pound baskets have 
 been used by some growers with considerable suc- 
 cess. The 16-qt. Jersey peach basket has been found 
 satisfactory, especially where long shipments were 
 not involved. In shipping any distance the bushel 
 box one of the best packages. It has always been 
 our experience further that it pays well to wrap 
 good quinces in paper. This fruit shows very badly 
 the effect of any bruise, and the paper largely pre- 
 vents bruising. 
 
 The quince has often proved to be one of the most 
 profitable fruits. The demand for it, however, is 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 51 
 
 uiicertain. No man should undertake to make hi? 
 fortune on quinces unless he is up to the tricks. 
 
 Tears 
 
 Pears are very often picked before they are thor- 
 oughly ripe. In fact, this is the customary way. It 
 is a question whether this custom is well founded or 
 not, but nevertheless such has long been the prac- 
 tice. Some late dessert varieties may doubtless best 
 be handled by picking them fairly early and putting 
 them in a dark place to ripen. The somewhat com- 
 mon practice of picking Kieffer underripe and send- 
 ing to storage with the expectation of ripening there 
 is not so defensible. The experiments carried on by 
 Powell show that Kieffer may l-e picked during a 
 considerable season, at least three weeks in Dela- 
 ware and Maryland. When pears are sent to storage, 
 in any case they should be handled very carefully 
 and should be stored as soon as possible after 
 picking. 
 
 The pear is essentially, and in most cases prac- 
 tically, a fancy fruit, and is to be handled as such. 
 The practice which was common a few years ago of 
 sending Bartlett, Duchess, Anjou, Sheldon, Winter 
 Nelis, and similar varieties to market in apple bar- 
 rels is wrong. Fortunately during recent years it 
 has been largely discontinued. Pears have sometimes 
 been sent to market in baskets. The diamond splint 
 baskets have been used, also Climax baskets, and even 
 more commonly the New Jersey peach basket. Such 
 packages, however, are not logical ones for pears. 
 Although it has not been very extensively used, the 
 bushel box is probably the best pear package under 
 ordinary circumstances. The fruit should be care- 
 fully packed in these, usually each specimen being 
 wrapped in paper. For fancy fruit half bushel boxes 
 
i2 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEDPH, MO. 
 
 would be even better, although the market is not 
 accustomed to them. 
 
 Pears will keep for a considerable time in cold 
 storage. The length of practicable and profitable 
 storage of course depends very largely on conditions, 
 especially on the quality and condition of the fruit 
 and upon the variety. Kieffer and Bartlett will keep 
 well until after Christmas in good storage. The best 
 temperature for holding pears seems to be 32 
 degrees. 
 
 The prices received for pears vary immensely. 
 They run from nothing at all up to $3 a dozen for 
 fancy fruit. Every one must have remarked that 
 eastern markets are never supplied with good dessert 
 pears. The bulk of the fruit stand trade is supplied 
 with California stock, which is never attractive to 
 eastern consumers. It is a rarity to see good home- 
 grown pears offered in any of the markets east of 
 the Rocky Mountains. On the face of it, this looks 
 as though there was a good opportunity to make 
 some money in pear culture. The men who have the 
 soil and climate adapted to it ought to try it. 
 
 Cherries 
 
 In California, and in a very few places in the 
 eastern states, sweet cherries are grown for market. 
 These- are handled in a manner quite different from 
 the methods employed with sour cherries. 
 
 These sweet cherries are always a dessert deli- 
 cacy. Frequently they are destined to be eaten out 
 of hand. It is expected, therefore, that they will be 
 sold in small quantities only. Thus they are put up 
 in small lots and in fancy packages, and every effort 
 is spent to make them look as attractive as possible. 
 They are for what is known as the fruit stand trade. 
 
 It is a curious fact worth noting that sweet cher- 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 53 
 
 ries are sold in essentially the same way on the con- 
 tinent of Europe. Whenever during the cherry sea- 
 son a train stops at almost any way station in Prance, 
 Switzerland or southern Germany, girls and women 
 come crowding around with little baskets or paper 
 cones filled with ripe sweet cherries. These are sold 
 to the passengers on the train at prices usually about 
 equal to 15 or 20 cents a pound. The sweet cherries 
 are sold in all the city markets of Germany, France 
 and Switzerland at retail in the same way. In the 
 handling of no other fruit are the markets of con- 
 tinental Europe and of North America so much alike 
 as in the selling of sweet cherries. 
 
 The California cherries, which are the commonest 
 of the sweet cherries in our American markets, now 
 usually come in small shallow wooden boxes holding 
 three or four pounds. The cherries are nicely sorted 
 and are placed in these boxes in tiers and rows in 
 exact geometrical order. Th;s gives them a very 
 showy appearance, especially when varieties of divers 
 colors are worked together into some sort of pattern. 
 
 Sweet cherries from the eastern states are usually 
 sent to market in quart strawberry boxes. While 
 this is a good way, it is not so good as the California 
 method, and it is a question whether even the eastern 
 growers of sweet cherries would not find the more 
 expensive packages and the more elaborate methods 
 of packing somewhat more profitable. 
 
 Sour cherries, like Morello, Richmond and Mont- 
 morency, are more commonly grown in the eastern 
 states, the central states and in Canada. Still the 
 market for this luscious fruit is not by any means 
 half supplied. The present practice is to send these 
 sour cherries to market in quart strawberry boxes 
 crated, just as strawberries are shipped. While the 
 present conditions of under-sup,ply prevail this 
 method is very good. It may be worth considering, 
 
54 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 however, whether the use of Climax baskets in 5 or 
 even 8-lb. sizes would not please many customers. 
 The fact is that the best buyers of sour cherries want 
 them for canning or preserving, not for immediate 
 use as dessert. Such customers always want as 
 much as five or eight pounds, and for them the Cli- 
 max basket would be handier and more attractive 
 than the quart strawberry cup. If the time ever 
 comes when the supply catches up with the demand, 
 as nearly as it has in the marketing of apples, for 
 instance, we shall surely see larger packages used 
 for sour cherries. 
 
 Stralvberries 
 
 Whenever I see a great public economist (general 
 manager to the government by his own appointment) 
 telling how to regulate the trusts, how to handle the 
 national currency, how to control all transportation 
 matters, and how to reform things generally, I 
 always think what fun it would be to see him trying 
 to run a gang of strawberry pickers. In many ways 
 it is harder to handle a large crop of strawberries 
 than it. is to run the government At any rate I am 
 convinced that some of the men who are in the 
 strawberry business are smarter than some of the 
 men who are in Congress. 
 
 One of the most serious problems in the straw- 
 berry business is that of securing a suitable force of 
 pickers. In the southern states growers naturally 
 depend largely on negro labor. In the northern 
 states women and children are looked to for the 
 principal help. Near factory towns such help is 
 usually most abundant, and such places are often 
 chosen on that account for commercial strawberry 
 growing. In some places Italian pickers are used; 
 in other places colonies of Polanders serve the end; 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 55 
 
 but always and everywhere one must foresee this 
 peculiar labor problem before he goes extensively 
 into the cultivation of strawberries. 
 
 Help of the kind here discussed is naturally and 
 necessarily unsatisfactory. The wandering bands of 
 negroes who follow the picking season from South 
 Carolina to New Jersey are seldom the best men and 
 women of their color. { In many towns it is the 
 accepted rule that special policemen must be put on 
 as soon as the strawberry pickers appear. ) The 
 Italians and Polanders who go about picking straw- 
 berries are oydy less nomadic and irresponsible than 
 the negroes. / It has been found absolutely necessary 
 in many places to adopt the rule that no picker shall 
 be paid even a part o* his or her wage until the end 
 of the picking season, jlf a grower should be so kind- 
 hearted or crazy as to pay his pickers on the first 
 Saturday night of the season many of them would 
 immediately get drunk on the money and all of them 
 would move on to some other place, leaving him 
 without any pickers on Monday morning. 
 
 Intelligent girls of 16 to 60 years old are said 
 to make the best pickers, especially American or 
 French girls. Some growers regard proper picking 
 of so much importance that they take special pains 
 to select only the best pickers. Usually such men 
 pay wages somewhat higher than the average, or 
 offer other inducements. One grower of my ac- 
 quaintance, besides paying good wages, gives a big 
 strawberry supper at the end of the season, at which 
 his pickers are his guests. These strawberry suppers 
 are said to be a howling success, and a picker would 
 work a month in the rain rather than miss the sea- 
 son's fete. 
 
 Picking is usually piece work, and pickers receive 
 from 1 to 2 cents a quart. The average is about 1^ 
 
56 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 cents. In the south the pay is sometimes as low as 
 
 Vz to ^i cents a quart. 
 
 j^K,.-"^ A^arious methods have been tried of keeping 
 
 l^y^ accxjunt of the pickers' work, but the one nowyalmost 
 
 ^^jJ^^ universally adopted is the punch-card system, j Each 
 
 picker is provided with a punch-card. 'When 
 
 a picker has a certain number of baskets filled 
 
 t with fruit he delivers them to the foreman, and 
 
 A 'the foreman punches the picker's card w'ith the num- 
 
 ' - ber picked. The picker keeps these cards till the day 
 
 , of settlement, in most cases, and the grower pays 
 
 "' what these punched cards call for. The great ad- 
 
 • vantage of this system is that it leaves the picker in 
 
 P'.'-^ sole charge of the evidence of his work, and thus 
 prevents any quarrels over the amount of fruit 
 picked. 
 
 A similar plan requires two of these cards, and 
 both are punched at one operation. Thus the picker 
 and the foreman each has a record. 
 
 Strawberries are almost always picked into the 
 quart baskets in which they are sold. In fields 
 where the fruit is sorted before being sent to market 
 this is still the practice, the quart baskets being the 
 most convenient receptacle for picking and measur- 
 ing the crop. When berries are sorted they are sim- 
 ply poured out of the boxes and sorted back into 
 them again. 
 
 It is customary and advisable to provide each 
 picker with a small tray holding six baskets of fruit. 
 This tray has a light bail and four short legs. Such 
 trays can be made for about 5 to 7 cents each, or can 
 be bought ready-made of dealers in fruit packages. 
 
 We have referred above to the sorting of the 
 fruit. Many growers practice this as a regular thing. 
 Probably a greater number do not. The question of 
 whether it will pay to sort or not must be settled by 
 
PACKING AlVD MARKETING FRUITS 57 
 
 every grower for himself, and can be determined in 
 a given case only by test. If there is an accessible 
 market where an extra price can be secured for 
 a fancy product, then grading the fruit will usually 
 pay. If there is not, then grading is almost certainly 
 a waste of effort. It is a noteworthy fact, however, 
 that many of the best growers find that it pays 
 them well to grade their strawberries, putting the 
 best ones by themselves and facing up the baskets 
 in attractive fashion. 
 
 The Stralvberry Package 
 
 . strawberries are nearly always sold in quartCT 
 boxes, baskets or cups.) These are made of woodjj^^ 
 veneer or of paper. TJie waxed paper baskets are 
 very attractive for a local trade, but do not ship so^ ^'j 
 well as strong wooden boxes. These quart boxes are 
 made in four sizes, viz.: (1) "full quarts," (2) "stand- 
 ard quarts," (3) "short quarts," and (4) "skin^^U^„ 
 quarts." It is rather a remarkable commentary ontX^i 
 the business that these terms, "short quarts" and vl 
 "skin quarts," should be regularly used in the trade. >} 
 The moral aspect of this question has often been dis- 
 cussed, but we believe it has never been fully ascer- 
 tained whether the fruit-grower, the buyer or the 
 consumer will have to suffer for it in the hereafter. 
 Of the four sizes named the "standard quarts" are 
 in commonest use, though some markets and some 
 growers prefer the "short quarts." 
 
 Pint boxes are sometimes used for very fancy 
 fruit or for long shipments. Fruit naturally carries 
 better the smaller the package. But the pint pack- 
 age for strawberries is a very small item in the trade 
 as a whole. 
 
 The quart boxes are always shipped to market 
 in crates. Standard crates hold either 24, 32, 48 or 
 
58 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 60 quarts. The intermediate sizes are most in de- 
 mand. For fancy fruit or long shipments preference 
 is usually given to the smaller crates, though this 
 preference is not without exception. Some growers 
 of great experience say that the 60-qt. crate is best 
 for -express shipping; and the reason given is that, 
 while an express messenger can throw a 24-qt. 
 crate half way across the platform, it requires two 
 men to lift a 60-qt. crate. The heavy package there- 
 fore gets the most careful handling. 
 
 Strawberries are largely shipped to commission 
 
 merchants, just as other fruits are consigned. The 
 
 very perishable nature of the fruit, however, makes 
 
 this method risky, so that as many growers as can 
 
 do so prefer to depend on private agents or to sell 
 
 direct to some buyer. In the large strawberry cen- 
 
 ^^^yters, like Ridgley, Md,, or Oswego, N. Y., buyers 
 
 •^"^^p./^ 4lways appear in numbers and bid for the crop as it 
 
 >^j^'y<'>is hauled to the railroad stations by the growers, 
 
 , ip^ Sometimes one method is best for the grower; some- 
 
 'MJf^ tknes another is. It all depends. The only gener- 
 
 ^'^-^■' alization which can fairly be made is that this deli- 
 
 *• ' cate fruit should be handled as promptly as possible 
 
 and with the least possible hitch between grower and 
 
 consumer. For this reason direct retail sales must 
 
 always be the most satisfactory way of handling 
 
 strawberries; and the best growers will always seek 
 
 this method of sale, or will come as near to it as 
 
 their curcumstances will allow. 
 
 The prices realized for the fruit vary immensely 
 ■ — perhaps more than with any other kind of fruit. 
 Hothouse berries often bring $1 a quart — sometimes 
 twice or three times that much. The first berries 
 from Florida nearly always sell in northern markets 
 at 50 cents a quart and upwards. On the other hand, 
 growers in Maryland and Delaware at the rush sea- 
 son, are sometimes compelled to accept 3 to 5 cents 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 59 
 
 a quart, or even less. The usual retail price in 
 northern markets is 10 to 15 cents a quart, and grow- 
 ers realize usually from 8 to 12 cents. 
 
 "Bush Truits 
 
 Raspberries and blackberries are somewhat ex- 
 tensively handled in our American markets, but 
 gooseberries and currants have nowhere nearly the 
 comparative importance that they have in foreign 
 markets. Raspberries and blackberries are usually 
 picked and handled much the same as strawberries. ^ -'■* 
 They are almost always put up in quart boxes and^^v^iu., 
 shipped in crates, exactly like strawberries. Fine red T|^ 
 raspberries, however, are more frequently packed in*^' 
 small — say, 1-pint — boxes, at least in the east. In- f^'Y** 
 deed, this is a favorite way of handling them. Thel>'»f-*- 
 fruit, being rather soft, handles better in the small 
 packages, and being rather high in price sells better 
 in this way. Blackberries are never sold in these 
 pint cups, so far as the writer knows. 
 
 The prices paid pickers for picking raspberries or 
 blackberries are usually a trifle less than for picking 
 strawberries. They run from one-half cent to one 
 and a half cents a quart. The pickers are managed 
 in the same way, and the accounts kept in like man- 
 ner, usually on a set of punch cards. 
 
 Dewberries are handled in all ways like blackber- 
 ries. In fact, when they reach the consumer they are 
 blackberries. The retailers never call them dew- 
 berries. 
 
 Gooseberries, when sent to market at all, are 
 usually shipped in the same quart boxes, put up in 
 crates, just as strawberries are. There is a very small 
 sale for gooseberries in this country, and it seems to 
 be growing proportionately smaller. In the old 
 world, where they grow gooseberries of a different 
 
60 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 sort, and allow them to ripen fully on the vines, they 
 are one of the favorite fruits in the markets. 
 
 Currants have a better standing in this covintry, 
 being used largely for jelly, and even for dessert by 
 ^ some enterprising housewives. Currants, too, are 
 0,PNA/^. usually marketed in quart boxes, and are therefore 
 ■ '^'" usually shipped in crates like strawberries. Some- 
 '^dU times, however, they are shipped in 3-lb. or 5-lb. 
 ^ , Climax baskets with handles, such as are used for 
 grapes. This is an excellent package, if the fruit is 
 firm enough to bear shipment without crushing. In 
 local markets currants are sold in all sorts of pack- 
 ages, and in fact are often dealt out in bulk without 
 any package at all. This method is not to be recom- 
 mended in any case. If the currants are worth sell- 
 ing they are worth handling well. 
 
 Grapes 
 
 There are a great many different kinds of grapes 
 grown in this country, but for commercial purposes 
 the Concord may be considered the type of them all, 
 and it also furnishes a large majority of the crop 
 annually sent to market. Grapes grown under glass 
 have to be handled very differently, but they are so 
 seldom grown and marketed in America that we may 
 fairly disregard them in this article. 
 
 In ripening the fruit, very different matters have 
 to be considered in different parts of the country, and 
 with different varieties. In the southwestern states 
 care has to be taken that the fruit is not cooked on 
 the vines, or not prematurely ripened by the exces- 
 sive hot sun. In the northern states everj^ effort has 
 to be made to secure all the sunlight and heat pos- 
 sible. In some cases grapes fail to ripen altogether 
 for lack of sufficient heat. Different varieties differ 
 greatly in this respect. Catawba, for example, re- 
 quires much more heat to ripen thoroughly than 
 
PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 61 
 
 Delaware does. But any variety should be thor- 
 oughly ripened on the vines. Unripe grapes do not 
 ship nor keep any better than those fairly well 
 ripened, and they certainly are not so well received 
 by customers. One of the best ways of reducing the 
 demand for grapes is to send them to market green 
 and sour. In the northeastern states it is not uncom- 
 mon to allow the fruit to hang on the vines after the 
 leaves have fallen, thus securing ripe grapes when 
 earlier picking would yield only sour and unpala- 
 table fruit. 
 
 The fruit is picked with small scissors or pruning 
 shears made for the purpose. These should be both 
 small and strong. The scissors used for thinning out 
 bunches are not very good for picking. In the field 
 the grapes are picked into any convenient receptacle. 
 Usually the best thing is the half bushel picking bas- 
 ket used for apples. In our own work we pick grapes 
 into large shallow trays which nest up one above 
 another, leaving a shallow air space between. These 
 trays are carried with the grapes in them into the 
 cooling room. The fruit remains in these trays from 
 one to ten days, until it is sorted and packed for 
 market. This method is used only on a compara- 
 tively small scale and for a local market. 
 
 Usually the baskets as picked in the field are de- 
 livered promptly to the packing house. Here the 
 fruit is spread out on a narrow table before the 
 sorters and packers (usually girls and women), by 
 whom it is picked over and packed. All decayed, 
 green and defective berries are cut out with sharp- 
 pointed scissors, and the bunches are deftly and 
 snugly stowed in the baskets. 
 
 The package which is almost universally used for 
 grapes is the Climax basket. These are made in 
 various sizes, the most popular being 3-lb., 5-lb., 8-lb. 
 
62 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 
 
 and 10 -lb. Of these the smaller sizes have the pref- 
 rence. We have found 3-lb baskets without handles 
 entirely satisfactory in the local market, but they 
 cannot be recommended for the general trade. 
 
 Good grapes, ripened without too much heat, yet 
 hanging on the vines till the beginning of cool 
 weather, can be stored almost as satisfactorily as 
 apples. Hundreds of tons are held in "common" and 
 "cold" storage every winter. In cold storage they 
 should have a temperature of 33 degrees. Houses 
 for common storage of grapes are made and operated 
 exactly like those for the common storage of apples. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Apple Barrels 19 
 
 Apple Boxes 21 
 
 Apple Storage 33 
 
 Bush Fruits 59 
 
 Cherries 52 
 
 Comparison of Apple Barrels 19 
 
 ' Grapes 60 
 
 Picking Apples 11 
 
 Packing Apples 24 
 
 Peaches 42 
 
 Pears 51 
 
 Plums 47 
 
 Quinces 49 
 
 Sorting Apples 16 
 
 Strawberries 54 
 
 The Fruit Markets 7 
 
 The Strawberry Package 57 
 
IWAR 23 1905 
 
 .: ■<. 
 
 
 LBJL '05 
 
'^h 
 
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