HOW TO GROW AND MARKET FRUIT 



the diameters of the different apples in the same package shall 

 not vary more than a quarter of an inch. Most graders make 

 only two classes for color the brilliant apples and the pale 

 ones. 



After size and color come shape and condition. Lop-sided 

 or uneven apples are not wanted. Of course, this is a matter 

 of variety to a certain extent, but the idea is to have them as 

 even and smooth as possible. Worm-holes and all other insect 

 damage, fungi damage and bruises must not be there. Judges 

 will insist on fruit being ninety-five per cent perfect in this. 

 The fruit must be flawless to get high prices. The other fruits 

 are governed by the same general rules, each in its own way. 

 Grade your fruit so that in one package you have only those 

 specimens of about the same color, and of the same size to within 

 a quarter of an inch. Never mix varieties. 



A packing-house, or grading-house, should have plenty of 

 wide doors, and usually is filled with tables. Grading tables 

 are sloping, with padded rims and tops. The fruit is brought 

 from the orchard and slowly poured down these tables past 

 the sorters, who separate and direct it into different chutes 

 which lead to canvas or other receptacles that will not bruise. 

 Often the whole table top, chutes, baskets and guides, etc., can 

 be made of canvas better than of any other material. Grading 

 is done with the eye, mostly, but beginners may find that a 

 thin board with holes the exact diameter they want the apples 

 will help to train the eye. Try the apples into the holes when 

 you hesitate. 



There are many grading machines, nearly all made by cut- 

 ting holes of the right size in an inclined board, and then rolling 

 the fruit over these holes. The best grader we have seen is 

 in use in the Hamilton orchard, in Colorado. It is the first 

 real grading-machine, and is run by power. The owner of this 

 machine cuts the holes in belts. If he wants six sizes, or three 

 sizes, he uses that many belts, and cuts holes of one size every 

 few inches in each belt. Then a series of drums or pulleys to 

 which power can be applied are mounted on a frame, so that 

 when the belts are on they will be end to end. If the belts are 

 four feet long, three would make a machine twelve feet long. 



Hamilton used two sets of these belts, side by side, for apples 

 one side for the highly colored ones, and the other for the paler 

 ones. A trough is built, with the belts for bottoms. Felt or 

 broom hangers turn the fruit and brush it into holes. Suppose 

 the holes in the first belt are two and a quarter inches in diam- 

 eter. When all the apples are poured on it, and the belts re- 

 volved, those apples of less than that size will drop through the 

 first belt to a canvas chute below, and the larger ones will be 

 carried on to the next belt, which has holes two and five-eighths 

 of an inch in diameter. The last belt in the series can have 

 very large holes, or the biggest apples can go over the end. Such 

 a grading-machine can be made at home for less than a hundred 

 dollars. 



Most fruit growers can afford to build a house underground, 

 or partly underground, for their fruit; and this is the best 



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