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. MARKETING