The packing should be regulated according to the size and quality of the
figs. The size of the boxes will therefore vary, but they may be made to
contain 5, 10, or 20 pounds each. In Smyrna the figs are packed in the
shape of bars, and this method should be followed for all the better
grades. In order to pack quickly in bar fashion, the writer several
years ago invented a “bar-packing device” or “guide.” This guide
consists of a frame of two or three parallel strips of tin or zinc
connected at opposite ends by two similar strips. The guide, which is
really a metal box without top or bottom, fits exactly into the packing
box flush against two of the sides, but is slightly higher than the
depth of the box in order that it may be pulled out after filling. The
guide is placed in an empty fig box, thus dividing it into three or more
compartments. The figs are then placed in rows in each compartment with
the eyes downward, each fig slightly overlapping the other, in the way
shingles are laid on a roof, just sufficiently to hide the stalks. The
compartments in the guide should be slightly narrower, or at most no
wider than the figs, so that when pressure is applied the figs will
flatten and fill them. The object of the guide is to keep the fig bars
separate. After the box is full a slight pressure is applied, which
squeezes the figs against the sides of the guide, and when the latter is
withdrawn leaves the bars intact without large air holes between the
figs or bars.