4'M AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



on the basis of llie inspection at Chicago. We inspect a great many 

 onion sets also in Chicago. There seems to be large quantities of 

 onion sets produced in the areas close to Chicago, and they are shipped 

 out through Chicago houses that handle them. For that reason we 

 have a good many onion set inspections to make there. 



We had cooperative agreements, for the inspection of potatoes 

 only, with the vStates of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, 

 each of those States having a certain amount of money available in 

 their agricultural appropriations with which they were anxious to 

 secure inspection work, largely as educational work, as well as a 

 service work. In each case, the service was offered until the State 

 money was gone, and then it was dropped. For instance, in North 

 Dakota we inspected 222 carloads of potatoes, in South Dakota 306 

 carloads of potatoes, and in Montana only 70 carloads. 



The machinery was set up, but, as you realize, this year has been 

 an exceptionally hard year in which to support a thing of that .sort 

 in the case of potatoes, because everybody had to consign his potatoes, 

 and, of course, the man who consigns his potatoes does not care much 

 about the inspection of them, because he knows that when they get 

 into the market the buyer will form his own judgment regarding 

 them anyway. 



In normal years, I think, the potato inspctions at the shipping 

 points would be by far the largest single item, as potatoes are by far 

 the largest single item in the market. This year, outside of Colorado, 

 where everything has to be inspected, I presume the inspection of 

 apples will run almost as heavy as the inspection of potatoes, although 

 in Idaho, where the inspection work is entirely voluntary, we have 

 inspected over 6,000 cars of fruits and vegetables, rr\ore tlian half of 

 which consisted of potatoes. 



Mr. Andersox. WTien you inspect a car of apples, do you open all 

 the boxes ? 



Mr. Sherman. No, sir; all of the inspections are made by sample. 

 Usually in a car of apples that will mean about 10 boxes if they are 

 of one variety and size, but if you have four or five different sizes in 

 a car, or four or five different varieties in a car, we have to inspect the 

 usual run of samples for each size and for each variety before we can 

 issue a certificate covering the car. 



In the case of a carload of sacked potatoes, the rule is to inspect as 

 many as eight sacks, and if from tliat inspection we find the con- 

 dition running fairly uniform, we will assume that we have the aver- 

 age of the car — that is, provided we have taken the eight sacks from 

 all parts of the load. If we (ind an irregular condition in the potatoes, 

 we go a little further. When we find a range of as much as 12 per 

 cent between the Ixvst and poorest sacks of potatoes in a car. we do 

 not certify that as a first-grade car, but we say it is an irregular car. 

 We may say, "A majority of the sacks up to grade, with some show- 

 ing 1.") per cent defects," or we may say that they do not meet the 

 re(|uin'in('nts of the Cnited States No. 1 grade on account of the ex- 

 cess of ([(ifects. We may say that they run from 3 per cent to 15 per 

 cent defective, oi- njostly 12 per cent dcfeclivi', or something like that . 



In New York we had a situation in which the State thought that 

 they could put up about $2, ()()() to do this work. They were to em- 

 ploy three men, and we were to furnish a supervisor. The fees were 

 <livided between us, we taking 50 cents per car and taking chance 



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