THE GRADING AND PACKING OF APPLES 



AN ADDRESS BY M. ALEXANDER MCNEILL BEFORE THE WESTERN NEW 

 YORK FRUIT GROWERS' AT ROCHESTER, JANUARY 28tH, I903. 



IT needs no argument to show that sys- 

 tematic grading enhances the value 

 of fruit, not only from an asthetic 

 point of view, but even for economic pur- 

 poses. A package containing only fruit of 

 iflie same kind appeals first to the eye, but 

 what is more important, it appeals also to 

 the good judgment of the thrifty customer. 

 A man who wants to buy large, highly col- 

 ored apples has little use for those that are 

 " off "• color and somewhat deformed. On 

 the other hand, there is a class of customers, 

 especially in the English mark'ets, who pre- 

 fer the smaller apples, and will even pay 

 a higher price for them, and such find the 

 larger apples a distinct loss. Another class 

 of customers, using fruit solely for culinary 

 purposes, are not particular as to color, and 

 do not object particularly to a few defects 

 so long as they do not cause undue waste. 



Making a comparison between the grow- 

 ers of the eastern and western sides of the 

 American continent, noting the difference 

 in the mode of conducting the fruit busi- 

 ness- it is apparent that the fruit growers of 

 California, Oregon and British Columbia 

 excel in the grading and packing of their 

 fruit, the fruit growers of the east having 

 the advantage in point of flavor. In fact, 

 the reputation of California fruit and the 

 high prices which are obtained for it are 

 largely a matter of grading and packages. 

 I am not particularly hopeful that there will 

 be a revolution soon among the fruit grow- 

 ers of the east in this particular. The 

 habit of tumbling fruit into baskets and bar- 

 rels indiscriminately has been too firmly in- 

 grained into our natures, and until a new 

 generation of better trained fruit growers 



takes control of affairs, I do not see that we 

 can hope for much change. The younger 

 generation will either have to improve upon 

 their predecessors in this matter of grading 

 and packing, or they will have to abandon 

 the fruit business. No change in varieties, 

 not even a change in modes of culture, will 

 enable them to hold with any degree of 

 profit against the better methods of packing 

 and grading of the progressive energetic 

 western grower. 



The grading of apples is simply a matter 

 of arranging them in classes according to 

 their qualities, and in assigning an apple to 

 any particular grade we take into considera- 

 tion the following: Size, color, form, fla- 

 vor, keeping qualities and material defects, 

 such as worm holes> bruises and scabe. Of 

 these, flavor and keeping qualities are in- 

 cluded in the name of variety. When we 

 speak of a Duchess apple we associate with 

 it a certain degree of flavor and short keep- 

 ing qualities. . When we speak of the Ben 

 Davis we associate with it long keeping 

 qualities, though some would deny that any 

 flavor is implied in the name. The other 

 four qualities determine the grace names 

 which we shall adopt for the different 

 brands of apples. 



The Parliament of the Dominion of Can- 

 ada has passed what is known as the "Fruit 

 Marks Act, 1901." This act designates the 

 marks that must be used throughout the 

 Dominion of Canada for the grade of ap- 

 ples. Apples of the best quality are 

 marked " No. i " or " XXX," second qual- 

 ity " No. 2 " or " XX," third quality " No. 

 3 " or " X," and one or other of these six 

 marks must appear upon ev^ry closed pack- 



