Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-05-10
FARM AND ORCHARD.
THE BEST METHOD OF PACKING FRUIT
FOR MARKET.
Tobacco Seed Beds-Treatment of Young
Fruit Neutrality-suspicious. of
Cow-General Farm Notes.

We have yet much to learn in Califor-
MIA regarding the marketing of small
fruits, and the hard-earned experience Of
Others should not be beneath our notice.
S. B. Conover, an acknowledged authority,
gives in the Ameyican Garden the follow
ing valuable hints:
STRAWBERRIES.
As moisture after picking causes small
fruit to decay, you should avoid as much
as possible picking while the dew is on or
when the plants are wet from rain. By
delaying the picking a short time the fruit
will dry of, and ii will keep and carry
better, and consequently bring better
prices in the market. This is point
that is very often overlooked in the hurry
20 get the fruit to market. Great care
should be taken to have the picker pick
all the ripe berries at each picking, as any
left and picked next time viii be over
ripe, and tend to destroy the sound fruit.
The juice of one soft berry will ferment
and spoil and iniure the whole quart, and
frequently the whole package. Care
should also be taken thst there are no un-
ripe or small berries mixed in the pack
ages. The packages should be we'll filled
and rounded, so that they will be full
when they reach market-the deal
ers will bless you for this, and
the customer will be happy too.
OF course, in doing this, you may give
more berries to crate than your neigh
Dor, but it will pay you better. In finish
ing off packages, the top layer should be
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the berry up. They should be carried to
a shady place, and be allowed to stand
where the wind can blow over them to cool
the berries and carry off any moisture that
may be on them before the packages are
placed in the crate. The cover of the
crate should be left open until ready to
load, to give air as long as possible; keep
the crates in cool and shady place. If
the berries are sandy. as they frequently
are after shower, put them up without
washing and do not top off with clean
fruit, as that will inlure your reputation
with the buyer. All the old and expert
enced fruit-raisers have found that the
best way TO get the highest price for their
fruit is to put it up honestly. Such pack
ing enables the commission dealer to
"chalk up" that mark or brand as being
sold, and for which he is sure of getting
the highest price. But if the fruit is
not put up honestly and salts
factorily it has to be sold to
peddler at low prices. The crate now
used in New York markets, and giving
the best satisfaction, is the 32-square-quart
ventilated crate. In buying crates see
that they are ventilated or have openings
between the top OF the crate and cover.
The openings should not be in the cover,
as they would let in the dust The heat
and sweat, in unventilated crates, rise
up against the cover and condense, fall
ing back on the top layer of berries and
turning them black. There can be seen
daily in the market, after the busy first
sales are over, statesmen changing the top
layers of baskets to the bottom, and bring
ing bright fresh ones on top. The ber-
ries should be picked ripe, or of full color,
when to be sold within twelve hours after
picking. If to be longer on the way, they
should be a tritle under-ripe but yet full
colored. If to be sent by express, use the
crate known as the express crate, costing
little more than half the price of the
standard crate, and only half the weight.
RAsPBERRIEs.
The same care and attention should be
used in picking and packing this fruit as
In strawberries. For black-caps use pint
baskets, but for the red varieties one
thirds and half pints should be used, as
anything larger makes too large a bulk
and the fruit is mashed by its own weight.
There are long pint cups made and sold
by the leading manufacturers which will
fit in the 32-quart crate, SO that the straw
berry crate can be used tor shipping black
caps.
BLACKBERRIEs,
Blackberries should be picked and
packed nearly the same as Strawberries.
Trey are shipped in quarts or long pints.
Great care should be taken to keep out all
bruised, soft or mashed berries. Packages
must be well filed to allow for shrinking
HUcKLEBERRIEs.
The best package for this fruit is a quart
measure, using the 32-square-quart crate.
See that the packages are tight enough at
che corners to prevent the fruit from
shaking out. The leading manufacturers
make special quart box Tor this fruit,
being closed at the corners, fitting the 80
quart strawberry crate. The fruit shipped
and is of more ready sale than that shipped
In half-bushel tight boxes
cURRANTs.
Currants should be ripe, or nearly SO,
when picked. Keep out all bruised or
mashed fruit, as few mashed berries will
ferment and turn the whole package sour
In very short time. They should also
be as dry as possible. If picked wet they
should be spread out thinly in cool dry
place before packing. They should also
be free from leaves. The best package is
the 32-square quart crate. The packages,
when well filled, will hold on an average
L pounds, and they are sold by weight.
Some parties use the ten-pound covered
veneer grape basket, but buyers mostly
prefer quart packages.
TOBACCO SEED BEDS.
The following article, from the Southern
Tobacco Journal showing how Southern
planters prepare and sow their tobacco
ground, may be interesting to many Of our
readers:
To the planter an early and abundant
supply of tobacco plants is the thing of
prime importance. To secure this the
seed may be sown at any time between the
18th of December and the 18th of March,
the earlier the better, and allotting 100
square yards Of seed bed to every 10000
plants that will be needed
The ground selected for this purpose
should be virgin soil, of sandy texture,
rich and moist, with full exposure to the
sun, but sheltered to the north and west
by rising ground, or growing timber,
against the cold wind of early spring.
Such spots can be readily found in wooded
hollows, at the foot Of hills, and near or
alongside some water-course. Other things
being equal, the further into the woods
the spot selected is the better, in order to
escape the bugs.
The ground having been well chosen,
the next thing is to rake il cleanly, and
then burn it thoroughly, SO as to kill all
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