One advantage in the use of the basket over the crate in shipments is the advantage of better circulation of air through the piled baskets of fruit, due to the conical shape of the basket. Good ventilation is thus supplied without danger of the baskets shifting during shipment. The ⅝-bushel basket is used almost universally in the east, while in the west the crate holding a bushel is the common container. The construction of the crate is a more important item than is often thought. The most important point, of course, is strength in construction, and the use of a wood which will not warp easily by alternate soaking and drying out, allowing the nails to become loose and the bottoms to begin to fall out of the crates after a half season’s use. The slats of the crates should have rounded, smooth edges so as not to cut the surface of the tomatoes when they are jolted and weighted down during shipment. The slats should be only close enough together to hold the small tomatoes, so as to permit of as much air circulation as possible. This particularly applies to the bottom of the crates, which become soggy and musty after a little use, and the openings soon become clogged up with tomato substance. It is important to turn a steam hose over the bottoms of such crates to clean them out before returning to the point of shipment. If the empty crates pass along on a chain belt after dumping, this steaming can be accomplished easily. Accumulated decaying tomato substance in the bottom slats not only rots out the crates, but contaminates otherwise good tomatoes every time the crate is used. The crate should also be as shallow as will permit of easy handling, so as to distribute the weight of the tomatoes over as much surface as possible. A shallow, broad crate is preferable to a deep, narrow one. Degrees of Ripeness for Shipping The proper degree of ripeness for tomatoes to be shipped depends, of course, upon the length of time it will take for them to arrive at their destination. Dead-ripe tomatoes will stand very little handling and shipping, particularly if the weather is warm and damp, as it so frequently is during tomato season. It is important, too, not to have the tomatoes delivered to the shipping station too underripe, as they are very apt to rot before they become red enough to cook up into a product of good color. That the employee in charge of receiving tomatoes at the shipping point should be a man of experience and good judgment as well as tact in dealing with the farmers, is apparent. So much depends upon the control he exercises over the farmers in getting them to pick their fruit at the proper degree of ripeness. If he falters, is uncertain, and changes his mind a few times, he is lost, as the farmers soon lose confidence in his judgment.