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- Consolidated, 1904, with The Cotton Plant, Greenville, S. C. PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XXI. NO. 7. THE COTTON PLANT VOL. XXIII. NO. 6 RALEIGH, N. C, MARCH 29, 1906. Weekly $1 a Year. MARKETING VEGETABLES AND SMALL FRUITS. Packing and ShippingValuable Suggestions About Each Crop, Presented by Horticulturist H. H. Hume. , "When the crop is grown, ready for the market, but half the work is done. The other half is to pick the pro duct, sort it, grade it, pack and ship it and secure for it a fair sum of money in return. And while many men may grow a crop successfully, a considerable number fail right here, in the marketing of it. One of the most important items in marketing a crop is to have a first-class or fancy crop to put on the, market. Good vegetables or fruit will make its way in the market, will bring good returns, where an inferior article will sometimes bring the grower nothing back but a re quest for freight charges or a few postage stamps. The early crop is what counts and everything in the power of the grow er should be bent to this object, hav ing it early either by planting early or quicker maturing varieties or by making everything so favorable for the growth of the plants that , they Will " not Stop Or be stun tod -a - ar.y time from seed to matured crop. The Kind of Package. The standard package for the vege table in question should always be used. It should be of exactly the same size, never short or snide. If the quantity called for by the crate is a half bushel or bushel, for in stance, then let the measure be full to overflowing. The crates should be well made. Anyone who has followed a shipment from the loading point to its desti nation or who has watched the un loading of a car at the market, or watched the transfer of an express shipment at some transfer point, will understand what rough handling the packages receive and how necessary it is that they be made of good ma terial, well nailed together. Under all circumstances have the crates neat, clean and attractive. To have a presentable looking ex terior on the crate will go a consid erable way toward selling its con tents. Grading Herein frequently lies the differ ence between success and failure, be tween profit and loss. Grade rigidly. It always pays to do so and the lower the market, the closer the grad ing should be done. When the mar ket is up, inferior stuff may be sold, though it is inadvisable, in that it tends to lower the general price, but when it is down ship nothing but the very choicest. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we must in the end pay the freight, directly or indirectly, and it is poor policy to ,r;ay freight on inferior stuff. Estab lish a reputation for a superior grade of vegetables or fruit, leave the in ferior, unripe, misshaped and small specimens the culls, in short at home. Spec ial Remarks on Grading Each Crop! Cabbage. Pack only solid., well formed heads; discard those which are soft and leafy. If these latter are packed they settle a great deai in transit and do not open up well. A slack crate is always at a discbunt. Cucumbers. Discard all half grown, stunted and misshapen cu cumbers and do no pack wilted or over-ripe ones. Choose well devel oped, smooth, well-colored fruits. Those showing a great deal of white, even though well colored on one side, are not good sellers. j Radishes. Look out for. pithy; specimens- they should not be shipped; pick at just the right stage arid do not let them become over-ripe. They should be well washed, and perfectly clean. Do not bruise the leaves. Eggplant. Do not ship diseased or green fruit. See that each package contains op Squash. These are usually good carriers. Don't pick them too green. See that no wilted, or soft ones get into the crates. j Potatoes. Do not allow them to sun-burn. This gives them a bitter taste and renders them inedible, j Be ware of rotten specimens. These in contact with good onesmay often cause a great deal of. rot before the market is reached. Do not bruise: handle them caremully. Grade (well as to size: a lot of small ones in a barrel of larger size spoils the sale. Tomatoes. Grade carefully. The round, smooth specimens about j two -and one-half inches in diameter are the choicest. No rough fruits should go into the package. Look out for rotten ones. Pick when fully j ma tured and just beginning to color. If to be shipped a greater distance, then somewhat greener. Always wrap each specimen with paper, j Be ware of over-ripe ones. Beans. Avoid ; in particular dis eased pods, indicated by the appear ance of more or less roundish red spots on the pods. These are un salable. See that they do not be come wilted before packing. Peas. Not over-ripe, not half grown both these extremes must be avoided. But little time, should elapse between picking and shipping, as they must not be allowed to be come wilted. Fresh green stock is always best. Wtaermelons. Beware of green melons. s Cantaloupes. Look out for "slick" or poorly netted specimens. For the best packages only well netted fruits. Forty-five is the favorite size. No over-ripe, soft or damaged fruit should be packed. A large amount of rainfall at ripening time is ruin ous, and one should go slow about -.-.i.v -t - Jr WELL-PACKED CRATES OF BIG BOSTON LETTUCE AND ARLINGTON WHITE-SPINE CUCUMBERS. It always pays to select the! very best, and put it up in an attract tive manner in neat, bright packages. Leave the poor stuff at home, particularly when markets are off. shipping at such av time. Be certain that the rain has not ruined the quality before forwarding them.' j Lettuce. Must be free from' sand. Look out for seed-heads, and leafy specimens. To sell well, the crop must go in fresh and green, not wilted. . , " .y .-. . . .. 1 ' btrawbemes. Discard all nubbins (caused usually by frost injury), all small, misshapen fruit. To bring the highest price, the fruit should be well formed, highly and uniformly colored, free from sand and dirt Be careful hot to pack bruised fruit Rain-sdaked fruit will not carry well. Dewberries. Do not pack over ripe specimens, they bruise too read ily. A few such fruits in a basket will spoil it. . Packing. j The packages should be filled snug and full. All that can be put in with out bruising or injuring, should be the rule. Many vegetables shrink af ter picking and others settle badly. The report comes back : "Packages too slack," and the shipper "cannot believe it, he filled those crates full. But he little knows the amount of shaking and jostling those crates of his received between his packing house and the store of the retail mer chant, enough to settle anything al most, and . it takes extremely hard packing to go through with'out show ing up slack. . At the same time re member that undue pressure must not be used. Beans and peas are very prone to open up with the crates apparently only three-quarters filled; strawberries also settle a great deal. Always pack the crates, uniform throughout. It does not pay to put inferior stuff in the bottom, and good specimens on top. That is trying to create a false impression, is nothing more or less than dishonesty and it never pays. The grade of the pack age is established upon the poorest specimens m it. Root vegetables, such as beets. radishes and salsify, should always be nicely cleaned and sometimes nicely washed. Use only clean, pure water for this work. Tie in bunches after cleaning and 'allow them to dry off before packing if they have been washed. Be sure that strawberries and dew berries are dried off after a Tain be fore picking, so with peas, beans and xamp pacKages are very likely to mold and spoil in transit. , In so far as possible grade as . to size and pack by itself. More money can be made from tomatoes by sort ing them carefully and putting the large sized specimens by themselves, the smaller ones in other crates, and so on. r . ' V Mark Tour Package. Stamp packages with name and ad dress. I believe this is- always best It does the shipper good ; it adver tises his section besides. Usually it is well to designate the number of specimens or bunches in the package whenever possible. This can be done with cabbage, cucum-, bers, cantaloupes, and bunched veg etables, such as radishes, beets and salsify. In packing watermelons : keep a careful count and let ypur consignee know the number in each car. It will help him in selling. II. HAROLD HUME, Horticulturist North Carolina De partment Agriculture, Raleigh. Virginia to Organize the American So ciety of Equity. Messrs. Editors: The American Society of equity will meet in Lynch burg, at Hill City Hall, " on April 20th and 21st, to organize a State Union of A. S. E. Every county dis trict local union is requested to send , delegates to said convention. Public generally invited to attend. H. B. Sherman, National Organ izer, and other State organizers of national reputation will be present to address the meeting. T. W. EVANS, President Lynchburg District A. S. E. ! -ft 1 i k Hi if t - I i ft
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 29, 1906, edition 1
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