890 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



In grading and packing apples a .sorting table should be 

 built, somewhat in the form as shown in the illustration. 

 It should be large enough to hold at least three barrels of 

 apples spread out at one time. At one end there should be 

 an opening or spout heavily padded with gunny sacks. 

 Through this opening apples may be guided and gently 

 rolled into barrels. Some sorters prefer, however, to sort 

 into baskets. The baskets are then emptied into barrels. 



Considerable experience and natural good judgment are 

 required to sort apples rapidly and accurately. The task 

 is difficult, and highly important ; the man assigned to it 

 should be the best on the job. 



In filling apple barrels, the work begins at what is really 



Sorting Table. 



the top of the barrel. The head is put in and the barrel 

 turned bottom side up on it. The first layer of fruit is put 

 in by facing, stem downward, carefully on this inverted 

 head. Good, well-colored specimens are selected as facers, 

 but they should not give a misleading idea of the general 

 contents of the barrel. Usually a second row of facers is 

 put in, stems down, in the same way. The remainder of 

 the barrel is filled in with loose apples. These are thor- 

 oughly shaken down three or four times during the process 

 of filling. Finally the barrel is sometimes finished by facing 

 the last row in the bottom (that is on top as the barrel is 

 filled). When the filling is complete, the barrel should 

 be somewhat more than full. The fruit should stand up 



