210 State Horticultural Society. 



upon the package and make it stand for something, and do not do 

 like the manner of too many is when their fruit, before sorting, 

 would not grade even No. 2, sort out the best, and simply because 

 it is the best there is, brand it No. 1, when in reality there is no No. 

 1, and many times not good No. 2. There is very little exact prac- 

 tice in the sorting of apples. Growers' ideas as to what constitutes 

 first-class fruit varies in proportion to the quality of the fruit they 

 produce, and dealers' ideals are usually based upon fne quality of 

 fruit they are in the habit of handling and the demands of the 

 trade to which they are catering. It is ordinarily considered that 

 any fruit which is sound enough to reach its destination is good 

 enough to be called first-class, but such standard is a serious error. 

 The fruit should not only reach its destination in approximately the 

 same condition in which it leaves the orchard, but is should also be 

 attractive and uniform in quality, and capable of being held for 

 some time when it reaches the wholesaler. All the specimens in a 

 package should grade up to more or less uniform standard of shape 

 and size, and any fruit which is ever so perfect in itself would not 

 be considered first-class among fruit which averages either very 

 much larger or very much smaller. In other words, there is a great 

 difference between a perfect specimen and a first-class package. 

 Perhaps, as a general rule, it is better for a grower to sell his fruit 

 before it is packed and let the buyer do the packing, or direct the 

 same according to his ideas ; in that way many misunderstandings 

 are avoided. But when we have large crops like this season and 

 the buyers do not come around, the grower should remember that 

 the sale must necessarily be made after the packing is done, fully 

 realizing that if he does not pack his fruit as well as a buyer would 

 have done, he will be the loser when he does meet with a chance 

 to sell. Recently a grower wa*s telling me about his apples in stor- 

 age. I asked him if they were well sorted No. 1 apples. He re- 

 plied, "Yes, they are good apples," but added, "he did not think 

 they were sorted as close as I would have sorted them if I had 

 packed them." I learned afterwards they could not be put upon 

 the market there without repacking with at least twenty per cent, 

 loss. A heavy loss is sustained by the avoidable mistake of not 

 sorting even as well as he knew how. First-class fruits are such as 

 are free from bruises and injuries and all insect and fungous blem- 

 ishes, are fully characteristic of the variety, and are in that stage 

 of maturity which the market demands at the time of their ex- 

 posure for sale. It should be especially impressed upon the grower 

 and packer that uniformity in size is quite as important to a pack- 



