366 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



GRADING APPLES. 



^T is not so easy to arrive at a proper standard for sizes and quality 

 of fruit, for the reason that sizes and quah'ties of the same varie- 

 ties vary considerably in different sections and in different seasons. 

 The standard adopted by the Association will come as near to 

 properly covering the ground as is possible without naming all 

 varieties of apples, and it is recommended to your favorable atten- 

 tion. That the grade No. i shall be divided into two classes, A and B. That 

 the standard size for class A shall be not less than 2^^ inches in diameter, and 

 shall include such varieties as the Ben Davis, Willow Twig, Baldwin, Greening, 

 and other varieties kindred in size. That the standard for class B shall be not 

 less than 2 inches in diameter, and shall include such varieties as Romantine, 

 Russets, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri, Pippin, and other varieties kindred in 

 size. And further that No. i apples shall be at time of packing practically free 

 from the action of worms, or defacement of surface, or breaking of skin, and 

 shall be hand picked from the tree. 



This standard does not prevent any grower who may have good apples 

 below the standard of size in either class from marketing them for what they 

 are. Occasionally, some really choice fruit might run below this standard, but 

 the exceptions are so rare that there can be little objection to the standard as 

 fixed. 



These suggestions are to the interest of every intelligent, capable apple 

 grower. It may not suit his shiftless neighbor, when he finds that his neglected 

 fruit will not grade as No. i. But that class has no legitimate place in the 

 industry. To increase the consumption of apples, the consumer must be 

 pleased, and nothing will tend to that end so much as to furnish with a better, 

 rather than a poorer apple than he expected when he made his purchase. Let 

 the barrel branded No. i be not only No. i, but fine ; and let the purchaser 

 find the barrel branded No. 2, not cider apples, but good fruit. Each barrel 

 sold under this plan will make a customer for two more, and a crop of apples 

 cannot be raised in this country too large to sell at fair prices, and that without 

 going to Europe for a market for the surplus. 



It may be too much to hope that all that is outlined can be accomplished 

 this year, but by cooperation a long step can be made toward it. One thing is 

 sure this big crop year, the grower who most closely follows the suggestions will 

 be the man best satisfied with the results of his year's work. 



The Association is especially anxious to have growers understand that the 

 prosperity of both growers and legitimate dealers are bound up together. Any- 

 thing advancing the interests of one is for the benefit of the other, and for that 

 reason it urges hearty co-operation between the two interests, to the end that 

 the apple trade may be further extended upon a sound basis with a reasonable 

 profit to all concerned. The apple is the king of fruits, and its use can be 

 greatly enlarged by honesty in all dealings .and intelligent organized effort upon 

 the part of growers and dealers. — Fruit Growers' Journal. 



