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of the crop, since production is so great that but a small part of the

crop is consumed in the markets of the Pacific slope. The growers in

this region, therefore, have special problems, chief of which are

those of successful shipment over long distances. California annually

ships in the neighborhood of 10,000 carloads of table grapes, all of

which must be handled within a period of about two months. As

competition increases, it becomes more and more necessary to extend

the area over which the fruit is to be sold; to lengthen the marketing

season through cold storage; and for both of these purposes to devise

new or to improve present methods of handling the fruit. The two

requisites for the successful shipment of this great bulk of grapes

are: The fruit must reach the markets in sound condition; and it must

have sufficient market-holding quality to remain sound for a

considerable length of time after it arrives in the markets.

Experience has thoroughly demonstrated to grape-growers in California

that decay in grapes is largely dependent on the presence of injuries

to the grape berries, to the pedicels or to the stems of the bunches.

Methods of handling grapes, therefore, and the type of package used,

must be such that the product is injured as little as possible.



Careful handling.



In the shipment of European grapes from California, it has been found

that it pays to go to much extra trouble in handling the crop. The

bunches are picked with care to avoid bruising or crushing berries,

and as far as possible they are lifted only by the main stems. They

are then laid with care in the picking trays which are filled only one

layer deep. In moving the trays to the packing-house, they are handled

carefully, the trays being moved only on wagons with springs. In

sorting, special care is taken to remove all injured and unsound

berries and not to injure others in the bunch, here again handling the

clusters by the stems. In packing, the bunches are placed firmly in

the baskets with care not to crush or bruise the stems or to injure

the pedicels of the berries. A slight injury of either berry or

pedicel permits the spores of the fungus causing decay to gain

entrance into the fruit.



Shipping packages.



The most common package for table-grapes in California is a square

basket holding about five pounds. These baskets are placed for

shipment in fours in crates. The bunches of some varieties may be too

large for these small baskets, and these extra large-clustered grapes

are packed in oblong baskets holding in the neighborhood of eight

pounds, two baskets filling a crate. No good filler seems yet to have

been devised for packing grapes in California. The cork dust in which

grapes from the Mediterranean are received is not available and a good

substitute has not yet been found. Sawdust is sometimes used but has

not proved satisfactory in holding the decay and the fruit absorbs

disagreeable flavors from the wood. Occasionally, however, grapes from

California are sent to eastern markets packed in dry redwood sawdust

and these seem to come through in good condition and not to have

absorbed a disagreeable flavor. Reports seem to indicate that this

specially selected redwood sawdust is proving much better than the

ordinary sawdust experimented with some years ago.



Shipping.



Considerable work has been done by the United States Department of

Agriculture to determine how table-grapes could best be shipped from

the far West and reach the eastern markets in good condition. The crop

is, of course, shipped in refrigerator cars and much depends on the

cooling of these cars and especially on the temperature at which the

grapes are kept while in transit. To carry well over the 3000 miles of

mountain and desert, heat and cold, the best type of refrigerator car

must be used. It does not appear that the pre-cooling so advantageous

to citrous and other tree-fruits is worth the trouble and expense with

table-grapes, as it does not seem to prevent decay. Cooling cannot be

substituted for careful handling, which seems as yet the most

necessary precaution to be taken in the preparation of these grapes

for eastern shipment.