cial
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.

[Illustration: FIG. 47. Climax baskets in two sizes.]

The most popular package for the grape in eastern grape regions is the
Climax basket made in various styles and sizes. These are cheap,
easily packed and handled, nest well in shipment and are durable.
Three sizes are commonest in use, the five-pound, the ten-pound and
the twenty-pound basket. The five-pound basket usually holds only a
little over four pounds; the ten-pound about eight pounds; and the
twenty-pound rather less than twenty pounds. Two sizes of Climax
baskets are shown in Fig. 47. It is commonly understood, however, that
the packages are short in weight, and as grapes are retailed by the
basket and not by the pound, short weight does not really deceive.

These baskets are made of thin wood veneer with a light wood binding
at the top and bottom. The cover is of wood and is usually fastened on
with staples. The handle is either of wood or of wire. When well made,
the baskets are firm and symmetrical, without splinters and are clean
and white. Packages carried over from year to year become dingy in
color, but the wood may be whitened by fumigating in the storage-room
with sulfur. The baskets also become yellow and discolored if left in
the sun and must, therefore, be stored in clean, dark, dry rooms.

When grapes are sold by weight to manufacturers of wine or
grape-juice, they are usually delivered in the picking trays which, if
the market is near at hand, are always returned. If they are to be
shipped far, they go to market in twenty-pound baskets or bushel
baskets, although the latter are not regarded with favor by consumers.

_Packing._

Grapes packed indoors, as has been said, are allowed to stand from a
few to twenty-four hours after being picked to permit them to wilt.
When thus wilted they are much more easily packed and do not shrink in
transportation, so that the basket usually reaches the market well
filled with fruit. Each bunch of grapes is placed separately in the
basket after all unmarketable