PREPARING THE FRUITS FOR MARKET 39 



The rapidity with which they work depends upon the 

 size and the number of cups. The smaller machines, 

 operated by one man, grade from 25 to 50 barrels a 

 day. The larger machines run as high as 500 to 800 

 barrels a day, requiring three men to operate them. Most 

 of them have a power attachment, necessitating a small 

 motor or gasoline engine to run them. One and a half 

 horsepower is sufficient for most of them. The cost of 

 the machines ranges from $50 for the small ones, to 

 $275 for the larger ones, not including the power to 

 operate them. So far as experience has gone, the great 

 objection to the graders is that they do not sort out the 

 bad or deformed specimens. This means that at the 

 feeding hopper someone must pick out the bad fruit, 

 or culls, as they are fed through, or the fruit must later be 

 graded from the compartments. 



One particular brand of machine has a revolving brush 

 in the hopper which is supposed to clean off any dust 

 or dirt that may be on the fruit. This is always done 

 with citrus fruit but is usually not required in grad- 

 ing apples. On the whole, mechanical graders are 

 worthy of considerable study, and probably in the near 

 future will be so perfected as to become a standard part 

 of the equipment of large commercial orchards. 



