Grading cloth, paper, cotton, wool, oranges and tobacco has 

 long been practiced. The fruit growers of California, Oregon, 

 Washington and the British northwest have staked their repu- 

 tations on grades and brands, and have profitably sold their 

 products in markets 3,000 miles distant. 



Massachusetts apples have been packed in all sorts of con- 

 tainers, with regard only for the facts that a barrel is a barrel 

 and a box is a box. Massachusetts apples have been sold as 

 "Fancy," "Extra," "XXXX," "XXX," "No. 1," or "No. 2," 

 and graded in each case in accordance with the ideas of the 

 individual packer. Ungraded apples have been placed on the 

 market with no marks to distinguish them from graded, to the 

 detriment of the reputation of the latter. No. 1 Baldwins from 

 one section might be classed as No. 2 in another, or vice versa, 

 and apples possessing all the defects of windfalls labeled No. I's, 

 and sold as such. 



Such practices by several thousand individual growers, with 

 no ideas in common as to the qualifications of a "Fancy" or 

 "No. 1" or "No. 2" apple, could never establish in the minds 

 of either dealers or consumers a proper regard for Massachusetts 

 apples. Further than this there has been little or no attempt 

 on the part of any group of growers to co-operate for the pur- 

 pose of determining and adopting uniform grades and labels. 



Apple grading legislation until recently has been unnecessary 

 in the big apple States of the west; the growers have been com- 

 pelled through their associations to adopt grading, packing and 

 shipping regulations for themselves, and these have been in 

 force for many years. The State of Maine passed a grading 

 law in 1910, New York in 1914, and the States of Vermont, 

 Connecticut and Massachusetts in 1915. The laws of the last 

 three-named States are based on a bill prepared by a committee 

 representing all phases of the apple industry. This committee 

 was selected by the Boston Chamber of Commerce. The best 

 points of existing laws were considered in the construction of 

 the bill, and many new features were added, after a number 

 of hearings and conferences at which growers, dealers and con- 

 sumers from the six New England States signified their ap- 

 proval of the measure. 



