GRADING 289 



salable tomatoes are usually put in one grade, but for discriminating 

 markets better results would be secured if two grades were made. 

 There is a distinct demand for sound, smooth tomatoes, regular in 

 shape, free from cracks, and of such a size that twelve specimens 

 fill one basket of a '' flat " or four-basket crate. Tomatoes of 

 this character should be marketed in a grade by themselves, and 

 may be designated No. 1 or fancy. Sound specimens, slightly 

 inferior to the above in size or smoothness, or with slight cracks 

 about the stem, which have healed over so that there is no danger 

 of their leaking, may be graded as No. 2. Tomatoes which are 

 so small that over twenty specimens would be required to pack a 

 basket are not in demand on the market. 



If the tomatoes are not uniform in ripeness, each grade should 

 be further sorted, on the basis of color, and only tomatoes uniform 

 in maturity packed in the same crate. 



The grading of tomatoes, as well as the wiping (when necessary), 

 is usually done as the fruits are being transferred from the picking 

 baskets or field boxes to the packing table.* 



The importance of grading is even more forcibly illustrated 

 in the case of muskmelons, for there are marked differences in 

 quality and flavor as well as in size and appearance. Extremely 

 high quality and uniformity in size and condition are essential in 

 making of a fancy grade. The size must also be normal and the 

 packing perfect. The No. 1 grade should be of nearly as high 

 quality as the fancy grade, but may include odd sizes, though the 

 different specimens in a given package should be fairly uniform in 

 size. This grade may include melons too large or too small for 

 the fancy grade. The No. 2 grade should consist of the balance 

 of the salable melons. 



In varieties of melons which are normally well netted, there 

 is a close relation between the amount and character of netting 

 and the quality of the melon, so that, after a little experience, it 

 is possible to grade melons with extreme accuracy as to quality, 

 on the basis of netting. As a rule, the denser and more fully de- 

 veloped the netting, the better the quality of the melon. The 

 netting should stand out like whip-cords on melons graded as 

 fancy stock. Well-netted melons, in which the netting is not 

 quite so prominent, together with off sizes of the best netted melons, 

 may be graded as No. 1. Specimens with still less netting, but in 

 which the netting is fairly well developed, may be graded as No. 2. 



* See also Bulletin 144 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 

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