The spectator., 1921-07-22


 Standard containers for marketing fruits and vegetables are of more in- terest to the average citizen than he generally realizes. Not only is he de frauded frequently by the substitution of short-meaSure packages at the full measure price, which is inevitable If the difference in the size of the pack ages is not easily detected, but also the cost of marketing is increased by the greater expense of manufacturing large number of unnecessary styles and sizes and by breakage in transit, sometimes directly attributable to the difficulty of loading odd-sized con- tainers. These losses constitute an unnecessary tax on the fruit and vegetable industry that the bureau of markets. United States Department of Agriculture. is endeavoring to cut down by fostering the use of stand ard containers.
 Old-Time Units Cause Confusion.
 Local package units that came into lse long ago are most largely re- Sponsible for present difficulties. Such packages may have been satis- factory when their use was confined to limited territory, but of late years rapid transportation and the use of special refrigerator and ventilator cars have brought the products of every section of this country into our great marketing centers, where the di- versity of styles and sizes of contain CTS have resulted in unnecessary con fusion.
 There are in common use today about 10 sizes of cabbage crates. 20 styles of celery crates, 30 lettuce crates or boxes, 50 styles and sizes of hampers, 15 styles and sizes of round stave baskets, and market bas- kets. varying in size from 1 to 24 quarts, whereas relatively few stand ard sizes would satisfy all the de- mands of the trade
 The unfair competition of short measure containers has been another | unsatisfactory factor. Certain shrewd packers have found that by slight notifications in the shape of pack
 
 duced substantially without noticeably affecting the appearance.
 Short-Measure Package. Commodities sold in these contain Ars can be offered at a lower price per package than those sold in standard packages, but the price by unit of weight is of course, higher Often ] this has caused the general adoption 1 of the short-measure package, and l there is no end to this procedure, for once the short measure is recognized i as the standard q still shorter one Is i put out ny an unScruplous minority. i The siX-quart market basket, the i l4-quart peach basket. the seven ] eighthS-bushel bean hamper. and the five-peck lettuce hamper are easily confused with peck, half-bushel bush el and II a-bushel baskets.
 Another factor which has caused i the addition of many unnecessary l packages Is the lack of unit which | is accepted as the basis for all pack 1 age standards. If a manufacturer wishes to introduce n crate into pro- ducing section normally using the bar rel instead of using the bushel unit. l the tendency is to offer barrel crate or half-barrel crate. At the pres ent time the crates and boxes are be- ing manufactured in sizes based on the United States standard barrel (1Oo uuarts) with Its subdivisions, the United States cranberry barrel (S8 45-64 quarts) with Its subdivisions, the weight bushel. the heaped bushel, and the volume bushel These different standards are used because of compet- ing. packages.
 Series of Crates.
 The result may be seen by a glance at the following table:
 Three Series of Crates Which Cannot Be Readily Distinguished From Each Other. Crates based on U. s. apple barrel:
 1-harrel crate. quarts io
 A-barrel crate, ,................ do o2h Ia barrel crate.........,....... do So Crates based on U. g. cranberry barrel
 1-barrel crate quarts s6 ib-61 R-barrel crate ............,. do 4S ll-3. 1-3 barrel crate. ............. do 2S 29-S- Crates based on standard bushel:
 3-bushel crate. te......................q quarts 9s 1h-bushel crate.................. uo 1-bushel crate e..................... do S'
 A standard unit of measure should be permanent, definite, and of fixed and uniform value. The heaped bushel which is in common use, is far from being fixed, and in many instances the heap has practically disappeared say specialists of the bureau of mar cts A proper heap has never beer