132 FKUIT-GROWING 



fects would take too great a per cent, of the 

 crop. This condition hit us last year when 

 nearly every variety was badly affected with 

 scab. In spite of good spraying the disease 

 appeared to such an extent that it would have 

 been ruinous to throw away every apple that 

 showed a trace of it. Consequently our graders 

 allowed fruit to pass to the sizing machine that 

 ordinarily would have gone on the cull pile. 



A sizing machine is simply a mechanical con- 

 trivance to grade the fruit for size — and for 

 size only. Because a certain grower labels his 

 fruit "machine graded" does not mean that it 

 will be perfectly graded by any manner of 

 means. I have known orchardists to pass a 

 crop over a grading machine and include every- 

 thing that came from the tree. The resulting 

 pack was "machine graded" all right, but the 

 three-inch wormy apples were right there cud- 

 dled up against the three-inch perfect ones just 

 as they formerly were before any one tried to 

 reform the fruit business. 



The real grading takes place before the fruit 

 reaches the machine and no mechanical device 

 will ever be invented that will take the place of 

 the brains and nimble fingers that are needed 

 at this stage of the game. When the fruit is 

 delivered from the machine it is ready to be 

 packed for market and one of three packages 

 is used for this purpose. 



