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Show PICKING AND PACKING I A FANCY GRAPE CROP I I Tacking a big crop of fancy tnble grapes Is a ticklish business. It Is not so difficult as successfu'ly marketing mar-keting tho crop, but this Is only because be-cause It docs not depend so much on chance. There uro three Important varieties of table grapes shipped from Central California Thompsons' Mnlagas and Emperors. Let us consider tho Malagas. Mal-agas. Tho fruit Is gcnernl'y ready for racking about tho first of August. It does not then nppenl to you or 1110. Hut It tnkes It two weeks to mako tho trip across tho continent, nnd by that tlmo It Is lit for consumption. Although It Is an easy thing to ship Malagas too green, It is practlcnlly on Impossibility to ship them too rlpo. Unlike most other fruits, thoy wfl not spoil en routo from over-ripeness. over-ripeness. Tho riper a Malaga Is, tho better It tastes, and It will keep for a surprisingly long period. Practically alv tho grapo picking Is dono by tho pleco; that Is, so much per box of specified weight Is paid to tho pickers. Tho picking Is dono In a systematic way row uy row. ino grapes aro very rarely taken to tho packing houses on tho samo day that thoy nro picked. They aro nllowod to wilt for a day In tho picking boxes. Tho reason for this Is when Just picked tho stems nro too brittle for packing. When tho grapes arc ready to go to tho packing houses, they nro gathered gath-ered up by smn'l, low trucks which can bo enslly driven down tho aisles of tho vineyards, nnd taken to tho wagon which will hnul them to the packing houso. This Is always o spring wagon. Great caro Is taken In loading the boxes upon tho wagon and nlso ln picking tho grapes. Very frequently leaves or straw are placed In tho bottom of tho picking boxes, to further protect tho fruit. From these precautions. It may bo seen that tho thing to bo guarded against Is Injury to the grapes. An avcrago load placed on a wagon wag-on with ono team attached Is 120 boxes, or nbout two tons. This Is taken at a necessarily leisurely rato to tho pocking houso. Sometimes 0 rnncher has to haul his fruit six or seven miles, nuthough this is rare. Threo to four miles Is tho n'vorago distance. Now that wo havo landed our load nt tho door of tho packing houso lot us take up that edifice itself. It Is always on a railroad. Tho necessity for H1I3 is obvious. In construction, It Is Inexpensive, with no attention paid to looks, it Is constructed n1 cheaply as Is posslblo, without sacrl-rising sacrl-rising durability. It Is In rea'ity o largo flat wooden platform, with a roof over It, open on all four sides. Tho roof Ib ulso ventilated. Extreme openness Is sought In nil ways possible. possi-ble. Wooden partitions aro placod where necessary and everything it arranged with n great degreo of compactness. com-pactness. The driveways for teaming, both for unloading of fruit nnd for loading of empty boxes, must bo nrrangod In way that will snvo tlmo nnd efff-tj In a rush. It In unnecessary to dwell on tho fact that tho railroad r.l U track should bo closo to tho houso. Tho Interior of tho houso, also must bo arranged so as to get tho fruit out rapidly. Packing benches. Udders' benches and sorting room must be so placed In ro'atlon to ono another that no tlmo or effort will bo lost through unnecessary dlstnneo A largo amount of room must no pro vldcd for storing fruit, becauso l very frequently happens that It go'f to coming so fast that the pactwrr cannot handle It. Besides this there must bo stilt moro room reserved reserv-ed for empty boxes and for shook, or material for crates and lixes. Out of this thoro must bo nmplo room aaved for tho transportation of fruit to packer and from Udder to car. To return to our fruit. It Is un loaded goncra'lv onto salp p 1'' door nnd weighed and tested for si-gar. si-gar. It Ib hen elthor trucked rtl-rcct'y rtl-rcct'y to tho packers or to the space allotted to storing It. Hore again, at tho door. It Is given tho cnrofullest handling. j Tho packers stund before naclcon' benches. On ono side of them ore tho fruit stnnds.o n the other a long bench. On a shelf nbovo this bench nro piled empty crates. These crates uro stamped with the name of tho fruit company on ono end; tho other Is b'nnk. Each packer la kept supplied sup-plied with two boxoa of fruit. Also iho packs into two or three crates. A detailed account of tho number and variety of packs would explain this When sho has finished a crato tl.o pnekor shoves It out upon the bench from which It Is j relayed to tho lid- dun. Aftor the crates aro lidded - (sometimes beforo) thry aro stamp- fV M ed with thr brand, name of shipper . M and kl:ul of pack. Tho arc then , M pled In stacks nlno rr ten high ami ' ( trucked into tho refrigerator car. , Practically all of tho packing Is II ' 'H dono by women nnd girls. They are- J 'H paid 3 ccntB n crato. Ono Is not nl- H lowed to puck moro than 100 cratcc A M In ono day, thus restricting tho wagu- S M cnriiliiRs to $,t or less per day, I M After tho crates reach tho corse ul M they are plied In tiers nlno or ten ? ' M high nnd llvo wido. Tho height vn- h' rles with tho position in tho car. , H Tile crates when lidded arc about M live Inches high and sixteen Inches: squnro across tho top. Their uo.U M weight Ib twenty-four pounds. M Tho number of tiers requisite for J M bringing tho crates In that end cveir . M with the door Jamb as nearly as pns , M slble, Is placed in ono end of thu car. M However, tho fruit generally comes. ;! J out considerably beyond tho Jamb.. J, M In tho other end nro placed enough M Mora to bring tho two divisions with. 1 ,5 H In eighteen Inches of each othor, I j H thus putting more fruit In ono cno! . t H or tho enr than In tho other. Tho. ' ' H tiers In tho mlddlo of tho car are ' H somewhat lower than thoso In titer" 1 ;, H ends. This result, which balances j , H tho load, Is obtained by tho proper: , j' H arrnngoment of star and plain packs; j . H which It would tako too long tn dia- 1 ' H CU39. Every third row as it is Plac- if H cd ln tho tier, Is braced with car j U ,H cleats. When threo tiers arc placet! 1 !k''.H they aro pounded back with n two i ( H by four and n heavy mallet. This 1st K H dono after every third tier Is placed. ! ti H When nllt ho tiers are loaded, thero pS, H Is a space of about eighteen. Inches j - H between tho two divisions. Tho ft 1' H wholo load Is now pounded back nnd j j H firmly braced with two by fours. 1 H This operation tnkes two men ono 'L'j 'H hour working as fast as they can. It j j ,H must bo dono to keep tho load abso- , H lutcly In placo during Its long trip. ! ,) H Two men can load threo cars In ono j ; ijj B day If they havo plenty of fruit. AN j', W ,H ter tho car Is loaded It is scaled by M :'H tho freight agent and Is ready to go. j li' ,IH Cortls E. Hamilton, In Los Angeles 1 ;j fll 1 Times. m .H I - i Wi v H |