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Abstract
Excerpts from the report: In 1951 the second most abundant crop of fresh western plums on record, combined with low prices, focused attention on the relatively high cost of shipping containers for this fruit. The cost of the standard 4-basket crate and the cost of packing and loading it amounted to only a few cents less than the entire on-tree per crate return to the grower for his plums. The skilled labor required for eye-sizing and hand-packing the plums individually in each of the four baskets not only was costly, but frequently was inadequate to keep the fruit flowing smoothly from the pickers to the waiting refrigerator cars. This research project was undertaken to develop a shipping container which would be less expensive than the one in general use and which also would permit savings in packing and loading costs. An equally important objective was to develop a container which maximized the salability of the plums.