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Show " 1 American Quart Boxes of Well-Graded Strawberries-"Fancy" on the R.ght, "No. 1" on the Left. The st use of maturity at which strawberries should be picked depends upon the distance they are to be shipped. When grown for the local market they should be picked when throughly ripe but not soft, says a new farmers' bulletin, No. 664, of the United States department of agriculture. agricul-ture. If grown for a distant market the berries must be picked before they are thoroughly ripe, but they should be fully grown and about three-fourths fipe. If picked before they are colored the berries will shrink and wither, making them unlit for sale. Strawberries Strawber-ries should be picked wtth a short piece of stem attached (about one-fourth one-fourth to one-half Inch). They should never be slipped from the stem, as that spoils appearance and injures their shipping and keeping qualities. Grading and Packing. Uniformity in the pack is essential in order to obtain high prices for strawberries, and this can be secured only when the berries have been carefully care-fully graded and sorted. Some growers grow-ers have the berries graded in the field. A common practice in some sections is to pick the. ripe berries of all grades into the same box and when the tray is full to take it to the packing shed, where the berries are sorted and packed. The graders dump the berries ber-ries on a table and pick out all green, overripe or small berries. The others are placed in the boxes, one of the graders arranging the top layers in such a way that the berries show to best advantage. When berries are packed in this manner, care should be taken not to put the small, Inferior berries in the center of the box and the large fine berries on top. The fruit should be uniform throughout the box. with the top layer merely placed to aid to the attractiveness of the pack and tojiold the fruit in place. Where the fancy fack Is put up, the berries should be divided into two grades. After the berries are picked they should be placed in the shade as soon aa possible, for heat injures the fruit in a short time. The pickers should not be allowed to leave the filled boxes along the rows, where the berries ber-ries will be exposed to the sun. The shorter the time that elapses after the fruit is picked before it is put into refrigerator cars or refrigerator boxes the better it is for the berries, which will continue to ripen rapidly until they are chilled. Large Crates Preferable. Many types of boxes and crates are used for strawberries, but the tendency ten-dency is toward a standard full-size quart box. In fact, in several states It is illegal to offer for sale a short box; shipments to these markets must be handled to conform with the laws. The boxes now in use are the American Ameri-can or standard quart berry box, which holds a full quart; the octagoiy box, and the square scale-board type of quart and pint boxes. The American Ameri-can type is the one that is most generally gen-erally used; it is full size, strongly made, and packs well in the crate. The octagon box is objectionable on account ac-count of its shape and the raised bottom. bot-tom. A long, narrow box is not satisfactory, sat-isfactory, because it is inconvenient to pick up without grasping the sides between the thumb and fingers, and when handled in this way the berries are likely to be mashed. Moreover, the sides of boxes with raised bottoms often split off below the bottom, causing caus-ing the boxes to tip over. The scale-board boxes are cheaper than splint boxes, but as the latter are more substantial they are preferred in nearly all markets. The type ol crate depends on the boxes used. Any crate substantially built and well ven tilated is satisfactory, but cost is an important consideration, as they are not returned to the shipper. The largest crate that can be handled conveniently is the one to use as the large ones are cheaper in pro poriion to the quantity of berries they carry. The 24 or 32 quart crates ar generally used, though in some sec tions the 60-quart crate is employed Crates ith hinged lids have an ad vantage over others in that they pro vide for the inspection of the fruit tc better advantage. The hingedlid crate invites inspection and this is a point in its favor. Cultivate Onions. Keep the onion field clean and well cultivated. V" " i i r - J Crate of Aroma Strawberries in Octagon Quart Boxes, Twenty-Four Quarts to the Crate. |