Every packing-house, whatever the design, must be furnished with tables for holding the trays while the fruit is being packed. Usually these tables are so made that the picking trays are set before the packers on an inclined table. The packer transfers the grapes from the trays into the baskets in which the fruit is to be sold. The trays of grapes as they come from the field are set before the worker, who then packs the fruit into the basket from the left. As the baskets are filled, they are placed on a flat ledge or shelf in front of the packer and are then taken off by an attendant. Empty baskets are usually held in store on a higher shelf convenient to the packer and from time to time are replenished by the attendant. [Figure 46] shows a packing-table of the kind just described. Sometimes the packing-table is circular and revolves, the packers sitting about the table. The baskets are held on the lap and the packer takes the grapes off the table which is turned as fresh fruit is brought in. This circular table is not in general use; its only advantage is that it permits the packer to select from a larger quantity of fruit.
Grading grapes.
Grapes are more easily graded than most other fruits; for usually there are but two grades, firsts and culls. It is difficult to specify exactly what firsts are, since a number of factors must be considered which bring in play the judgment of the grader. At least, firsts must have the following qualities: The bunches must be approximately uniform in size; there must be few or no berries missing from the stems; the grapes must be fully ripe, of a uniform degree of ripeness and uniformly colored; and the fruit must be free from insect and fungous injuries. It is easier to give specifications for culls, since all grapes not firsts are culls.
In large vineyards, only good fruit or the best fruit is worth grading. It is more advisable to sell poor fruit by the ton with little or no grading. It follows, also, that the higher the price, the more special the market, and the more carefully the crop is picked, the more profitable it is to grade. The work of grading is done in the packing-shed when the fruit is transferred from the trays into the selling receptacles. A pair of slender scissors made for the purpose, to be purchased from dealers in horticultural supplies, is used to trim out diseased and crushed berries. The fruit must be permitted to wilt for a few hours, a half day or overnight, before it can be graded to advantage. In this work of grading, the greatest care should be taken to keep the fruit clean and fresh, to sort out broken bunches and to preserve the bloom. The less handling, the more finely finished is the product.
Grape packages in eastern grape regions.
Fig. 47. Climax baskets in two sizes.
Packages for grapes are less varied than those for any other fruit, selling receptacles in the states east of the Rocky Mountains being much the same for all regions. Dessert grapes are universally packed in gift packages—that is, packages which are given away when the fruit is sold—and this insures a clean dainty package. It seems imperative that a uniform style of package should be used the country over for the general market, but up until this time, although there have been both national and state laws passed, uniformity has not been secured. A national law is needed establishing standard commercial packages so that the grower may safely ship from one state to another without being a law-breaker. Such a package should be based on cubic-measure and not on weight as is often advocated; for grapes cannot be shipped without some loss from sampling in transit; and there are also losses in weight by evaporation so that the grower, although trying to comply with the law, may become technically a law-breaker if the standard is based on weight.