72 INTENSIVE FARMING 



edge is demanded at every point in the prod- 

 uction, grading, and packing of box apples. 

 Such knowledge costs more and must be taken 

 account of in the selling price of the product. 

 The production of barrel and box grades of 

 apples may be compared to the manufacture 

 of mowing machines and microscopes. A dif- 

 ferent quality of workmanship is demanded, 

 the market for one is limited and exacting, for 

 the other general and less critical, but there 

 may be quite as much profit in one line of 

 business as in the other. 



The ideal plan is to grade the product, take 

 out the box stock, and grade and pack it in 

 such manner as to secure the highest price for 

 the grade to which it belongs. Then pack a 

 high grade and a second barrel stock and con- 

 vert everything else into other commercial 

 forms. More profit will follow this practice 

 than will come from eliminating the box grade 

 entirely. The elimination of the box stock 

 tends to make the barrel stock more uniform 

 and therefore more desirable. In the produc- 

 tion of all such products, however, there is a 

 point beyond which the work cannot be profit- 

 ably carried. The careful business man will 

 seek to determine this limit and keep well with- 

 in it. 



