THE HOME GARDEN 303 



distance to market. Some products which are to be shipped 

 some distance will be picked green. 



In grading products it may be well to use a typical speci- 

 men as a sample and compare others with it. The following 

 description* of the grades of tomatoes may serve to make 

 this point of grading clear. Fancy selected tomatoes are 

 sound, smooth, regular in shape, free from cracks, and of 

 such size that twelve specimens will fill one basket of a flat 

 or a four basket crate. Number one grade is composed of 

 sound specimens, slightly inferior to the fancy selected 

 grade in size and smoothness, or with slight cracks about 

 the stem which may have healed over so that there is no 

 danger of leaking. Culls are badly cracked, rough, over- 

 ripe or under-sized specimens. Tomatoes which are smaller 

 than twenty to the basket would be regarded as culls. 



Products which are to be bunched may be first graded 

 and then washed after bunching. This makes handling 

 easier. All root crops, early in the season, are bunched. 

 Radishes (except the winter type) are bunched at all sea- 

 sons. In this class are green onions, asparagus, rhubarb, 

 kohl-rabi, parsley, leeks, celery and sometimes leaf lettuce. 

 String, raffia and tape are used in tying. Rubber bands 

 are often used for asparagus. 



The size of the bunch will depend upon the product. 

 Bunches of radishes may contain five or six or ten or twelve 

 depending upon size. As a novelty, white and scarlet rad- 

 ishes may be arranged in the same bunch. Asparagus 



*Lloyd Productive Vegetable Gardening. 



