The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-04-19

| gina oushel boxes should be used fo,
packing and the fruit should afways b.
carefully paper wrapped Norfolk lot,
carry better In boxes as . rule. but bar
rels may be used successfully If properly
packed. Pears require great care i1
packing As, being inelastic, they bruise
very easily. When crates are used tbs
fruit should be packed snugly by hand 90
rs to allow no shaking Of the contents.
When barrels are used the fruit NAV be
packed In the same way as apples' ex.
cepting that varieties without high color
should have the large end, and those hay-
ing color should have the colored side
next to the head in the first layer. Shake
down gently but thoroughly, and press
the head down firmly on the contents, but
not so tightly as to braise the fruit.
Some packers use paper next to the
head. Put but one variety in each pack
age and stencil or neatly mark the name
on the outside.
PSacAes-The great maioritxnfueaehr
es from extreme 500. inferior in variety
siT'96xhfy, and only the very best lots
have been of any profit to shippers. There
Is, however, no reason why, with extra
care, the fruit should not arrive here in
prime order and bring high prices Only
the best varieties should be shipped small
immature fruit is never salable at paving
rates and should not be sent here. Peach
es should be left on the trees until full
grown but not soft. Select carefully,
sending only the finest fruit. Lots from
the far south carry best in crates holding
] bushel from the more northerly points
bushel crates may be used. Crates for
fancy fruit should have the Stats slightly
rounded on the inside to prevent thefruit
from being cut. Never use cotton in
packing; the lots sent without any pack
ing at all usually arrive in the best order.
Always pack by hand, filing the crates
as full as possible, so as to allow no shak-
ing or shifting of the contents. When
Maryland and Delaware peaches begin
to arrive there is no further demand for
southern fruit.
Gropes-Light wooden boxes, holding
about 3 lbs, are most generally used, and
are usually considered preferable to paper
boxes, though the latter, when handsome
ly ornamented, sell we'll The boxes
should be full, but not so full that the
contents would be jammed in putting on
the lid. One kind only should be put in
a box, and the name should be neatly
stenciled or printed on the outside.
NeloRS. FLORIDA watermeIons should
be retulIy selected as, to the size and
none but the very largest should be sent
here. Small melons sell at such low
prices that the freight and charges on
them when shipped from distant points
leave no margin for profit, and when
mixed with large ones they hurt the sale
Of the entire lot. Watermelons should
be shipped by the most direct route so as
to avoid unnecessary handling.
NUTMEG MELONS from points south of
Norfolk very rarely sell at paying prices,
as the distance is so great that it is almost
impossibl to have lots arrive sound un-
less they are picked so green as to be
unfit for food ; many lots are yearly seized
by the health officers.
SMALL FRUITS AND BERRIES.
SRAw wBEREIEs from Florida first appear
in this market some time during the lat
ter part. of February. When they arrive
in prime condition, SO that they can be
used in place of hot-house berries at that
season, they frequently sell at extremely
high prices. The demand for them, how
ever, SO early and at such high rates is
very limited, and even slight over sup
ply causes material reduction in their
value. The earliest Charleston berries
also, arriving generally the latter part of
March, are salable at high prices 1t
should be remembered that, in order to
secure extreme prices for early strawber-
ries, the fruit must arrive here in perfect
condition, as the customers who pay 81
a. 50 per quart for berries, sometimes
even higher, cannot use anything in the
slightest degree ont of order, and there is
no other class of trade that can use them.
All berries from Florida and Charleston
should be shipped in refrigerators holding
from 80 to so quarts each. Lots shipped
from Virginia, Maryland CIR Delaware
may be sent in open crates containing
from 80 to 60 quart boxes. These crates,
as we'll as the boxes within, should be
constructed as open as possible so
as to allow free circulation of air. The
berries should be picked perfectly dry
and not until ripe; care should be taken,
however, that no soft ones, or none SO
ripe that they will be likely to soften on
the way here, are packed. Use only open
quart boxes Gull carefully and fill each
box full. Sandy fruit is always very un-
salable The berries may be protected
from sand by mulching the plants with
leaves or straw.