108 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



complement of ladders is necessary, and the picking receptacle, either bag, 

 basket, or bucket, should be chosen to fulfill most conveniently its purpose 

 and yet not be a source of danger to the fruit. From the picking receptacle, 

 the pears go to the crate or barrel for carriage to the packing-house ; for, 

 unless the fruit is going to the cannery, pears should be graded and packed 

 in the packing-house. 



Grading pears is a more difficult operation than grading apples, as 

 mechanical graders have proved of little use, and the work must be done 

 by hand. Only good fruit is worth grading. It follows, that the higher 

 the price and the more special the market, the more carefully should the 

 pears be picked and graded. Pears are usually graded in New York into 

 firsts, seconds, and culls. The State has no law governing the grading 

 and packing of pears as it has of apples and peaches, so that pear-growers 

 must establish their own grades. By common consent of growers and 

 dealers, Grade I consists of pears of one variety, full sized, well formed, 

 free from dirt, skin-breaks, worms, scale, scab or other damage caused by 

 insect or disease, hail pecks, or mechanical injuries. Grade II differs from 

 Grade I only in that the pears may not be of full size nor perfect in form. 

 A leeway of five to ten per cent is allowed for variation incident to grading 

 and handling. Culls are pears which do not meet the requirements of the 

 foregoing grades. 



In putting up grades every effort is made to keep the fruit in a package 

 uniform in size. At the beginning of the season the sizes are gauged by 

 putting the pears through rings of the diameter desired. But packers soon 

 become expert in sizing, and with a little practice perform the work quickly 

 and accurately without rings. Of the larger pears, such as Bartlett, Clapp 

 Favorite, Beurre Bosc, and Beurre d'Anjou, fruits are hardly worth putting 

 in a good package that do not measure two and one-fourth inches through 

 the shorter axis. 



Grading and sizing pears are greatly neglected, and most of the crop 

 goes to the market in this State wretchedly packed, for which reason 

 maximum prices are seldom received. The industry can never compete 

 successfully with western pear-growing until higher standards are adopted 

 in putting the New York crop on the market. 



In common with grading and sizing, packages are neglected in marketing 

 New York pears. Some growers pack in bushel baskets; a few send the 

 crop to market in half -bushel baskets; a large size of the Climax basket is 

 occasionally seen in the markets filled with summer pears or small Seckels; 



