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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1880)
October, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. PACKING FRUIT FOR EXPORT. Then wu an essay lately written or the Royal Agricultural Society of South Australia, by Mr. Amos Howard, onj packing fruit for ex port, from which we take the following para graph!: Packing the Grape. I consider the packing material a very important coniideration. The material! I have had experience of are sawdust, seaweed, bran, fine meadow hay, and fine wood shavings. These were all partial failures, with the exception of the tine wood shavings; but of this last I cannot spoak too highly. They combine these requisites lightness, oleanlinesa, cheapness and elasticity. A good proportion of size for the cases is, length 2 ft, width 14 inohes, and depth 11 inches this size would contain about 60 lbs. of grapes. These boxes should be packed in the vineyard, the bunches being then but once handled. Sheets of oommon white paper are provided of two sizes, which a child oan twist np into oonioal-shaped bags. They should be large enough to take in the bunch completely. The box is prepared for the reception of the fruits by placing a layer of the fine shavings on the bottom; the bunohes are out from the vine, held only by the stalk, and ilaoed at onoe in the paper bags, being then aid carefully on the layer of shavings. On no account should the mouth of the bags be olosed, as the sweating of the bunches would injure the berries. On the other hand, if the mouth of the bags is not doubled over, the shavings will absorb the moisture, and the fruit will remain uninjured. I have proved this from experience. As soon as the first layer of grapes is oomplcte, another of fine shavings is placed on them, and these slightly pressed down so as not to bruise the berries, for this purpose a light board out to fit inside the oase with a handle to lower it gen tly, will be found to press the packing more evenly than the band the packer's judgment will teach what pressure is necessary to pack the fruit securely. These layers should be con tinued until the oase is filled, and in finishing off the lid should press slightly on the top layer of shavings. Packing the Flum. The method of packing these is more simple. In their case the fruit is placed in single layers between each layer of the fine shavings, the same care is neoessary in gathering and at once putting them in the boxes, seleoting fruits without spots. The plums are packed without paper; as they lay firmer with out. (I wonld here remark, that firm packing is of the utmost importance, as the slightest looseness is ruin to the fruit) As each layer of shavings is placed on the fruit, the light board before mentioned should be nsed for pressing tbem evenly down. The layers then are oon tinned until the case is filled, the lid slightly pressing down the top shavings. The firm fleshed varieties will keep well for seven and eight weeks, and damsons even longer. Packing the Apple. These should be packed in the same way as the plums, taking the extra oare only of having a little shavings between eaoh fruit Cases of the size recommended should hold about 150 apples, spotless fruit should be selected and packed straight from the tree. TH E FALL WOOL TRADE. As the fall clip is now pressing for sale, the aspect of the Eastern market is a matter of much interest Walter Brown Co., of Boston, in their latest circular, give the following out line of the trade and matters affecting it! The wool market for August opened with a moderate inquiry and strong prices; the purchases, how ever, by manufacturers were mostly oonfloed to their immediate requirements, as they have had but little inducement from the sales of goods to enoonrage any anticipation of future wants by heavy investments in the raw material As the) month piugTseeid, consumers held back from buying a much as possible, thus reducing the volume of sales, and the last week shows a smaller amount of transactions than for any similar period during the previous 60 days. The only aotive demand has been for delaine and combing selections, which have sold freely at steady values; all other wools have been in very limited request, and in some oases oonoes sions have been made to effect sales. The weak est wools on the list are the low medium and coarse grades from Territories and Western States, whioh have been muoh neglected by eonsumers, and exhibit a great contrast to the active movement of last season. The indifTorenoe shown by manufacturers to the wools offering on the market would indicate a larger stock in their hands than has been generally supposed by dealors in the staple, and a belief that they oan safoly postpone pur chases until actual scarcity of stock makes it necessary for them to buy. On the other hand, a large number of the farmers in the best wool growing distriots of the oountry are holding their wools with confidence, feeling that they will be noedod at their own figures before another clip is available. What the roault will be is to-day quite as muoh of an enigma as it was two months ago; one faot, however, is quite evidont, manufacturers, so long as the trade for their goods oontinues in its present unsatisfactory state, will not buy wool faster than thoy need it, and the question arises will this "hand to mouth" demand be sufficient to relieve the market of the largo supplies of wool that have accumulated duriug the past few weoks without a further concession in prices. The general prosperity of the oountry In its cereal interests, as indicating a good healthy fall trade in all branches, is a strong argumout in favor of a renewed activity in the woolhusiunss, and of which the advent is only a question of time; the prices of the staple in foreign markets are to-day too high to admit of additional im portations in competition, and even should a further decline take place in the values of domestio wools, it will probably be only tem porary. The Ixndon auotion sales begsn on the 17th ultimo, with a very large offering of colonial wools; the attendance was good, out the bid ding lacked spirit and the pricoa oiiened about 5 below the closing rates of the previous series. As the sales have progressed, they have suffered no further decline, while at times some animation has been evident in the competition. The assortment though large, comprises but little wool suitable for the American market, even were prioes low enough to attract buyers from this country; a It is, there is no proba bility that our stocks will be at all increased by any purchases at this offering. Till FuTDKi Lumhkr Sum'LT. What are the lumbermen of the Pacific coast doiug to re place the forests they dostroy t This la a serious matter, and It ought to be looked squarely in the faoe. It is attracting the atten tion of ship builders and other lumber interests on the Atlantic side, and it should not be neg lected on the Pacific where the lumber Industry is assuming vast proportions. In relation to this business, ths Xmrrkan Ship thiuks that the Lumbermen's Association should consider the matter and endeavor, through the action of its members, to secure protection for the timber lands so that the tree shall be thinned out rather than destroyed, and given an opportunity to make fresh growths from year to year. That journal says: Home legislation may be needed in the publie interest for th protection of the for ests sgainst th cupidity of men, anxious only about present fronts, and th lumbermen s Association ought to b able to luggeat meas ures that will be fair to all interests. Then la scarcely a nation in Europe that does not to-day regret its neglect to provide in time for forest culture, though nearly all now have laws on the subject The existing awt In this oountry an really applicable only in th far Western States, when then an public land which might be worts obtaining for forest culture. In th State now most In nsed of growing forests, then is very little tree planting, bat Ui wast goes on at a great rate. TO DISTINGUISH DYES IN COLORED GOODS. It is often necessary to know with what ool oring mattora a pattern has been dyed. In som case an experienced dyer oan toon ascertain, almost at a glance, or by simple methods, whloh dyes tuff ha been employed; but with many oolors this is sometimes Impossible. Kspeolally is this the oase with blu dyad fabric, In which it is not easy to My whether a pattern has been dyed with vat indigo alono, or ha been topped with cheaper stuff. Th detection oan be mad by a ohsmioal analysis, th method consisting! in destroying one of the eoloring msttors by some reagent, and thus prove its existenoe by th us of th destroying medium, To aacertain which mor dant has been used, it is only necessary to burn a certain quantity of the fabric, and to find out by ohemioal analysis which oxide waa presout on the fabric These methods an, however, only of use to chemists but the following la a simple method that may be employed by anybody to determine th coloring matter. To begin with blue dved fabrics. Vol blut. In the first place, is noithor affected by alkalies nor acids (with the exception of nitric acid). Only chlorine and chlorine compounds reaot on vat bins. A blue dyed with nitiJuttf, or urtrncl, or Mr mine o imi'yo, Is readily abstracted by boiling water, and even mon so by osustio alkalies. J'ruuitin blur is easily noognixed by using al kalies which destroy it, wliil ohforin and aoids have no effect upon it However, th alkaline chlorine compounds of commerce) (bleaching powder, etc) reaot upon it Goods dyoil with foiiiwxf give, with acids, a coloration mon or leas yellowish. In oase then is another color associated with logwood, the latter may be extracted with a large quantity of acid. The fabrio is then well washed, and th remaining oolor examined. The red oolors an mon difficult to determine; but theee oolors hav not th sain importance a th blue. Colors dysd with eothinml and Jlratil uxtal (which, however, every dyer oan oasily dis tinguish) become gooseberry red when treatod with muriatio acid. If it is washed, od then passed through milk of lime, a pntty loos violet is obtained, MatUrr ml, treated x aotly in the same way, aud after the milk of liin bath boiled with soap, acquire a mon intens color. Corhinral rut and Uratil wxxxi ml oan b easily distinguished by means of niello acid, oootiineal red becoming brighter, while th other is mon or less destroyed. Illauk, whioh it generally dyed by two meth ods, either with iron or chrome, when treated with ohlorine, is destroyed If dyed with lron but, if a chrome blank, reeiata to a osrtain x tent, only becoming chestnut brown, vn with strong treatment , . , To distinguish other oolors than are many methods, which are, however, too complicated to be mentioned here, Aniline oolors reqnin greater chemical knowledge to distinguish thm from each other, i How Slum Alia DiNisjri.TKiu. Th follow. Ing system of disinfection I recommended by the Austrian government for vessel that baa case of small pox on board: Sulphur to the ex. tent of 12 grains per cubio meter of speoe to b disinfected t to be burned In an earthenware basin, placed in the eenUr of torn sand to pro vent all risk of fin. All th linen, elothet, stc., are to be hung across th oabin, which Is to b hermetically closed (of thrs hour, and after, ward exposed to the strongest possible draft of air for 12 boars. Then th walla, floor, sail ing, etc., an to be washed with om kilogramme of lint or one-half a kilogramme of oh lurid f sine to vry hundred liter of water. To Rbmivi Cask raon alis-rui ne. Bans a little lulpbar la th empty oaskt, bang, tad 1st them stand for day.
