September, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



209 



Grading and Packing Apples 



Father Leopold, Oka Agric. Inst., La Trappe, Que. 



ALL other things being equal, the 

 article placed on the market in 

 the most attractive manner and 

 package will find the readiest sale and 

 command the highest price. This fact 

 has led the manufacturers of staple 

 articles of commerce to put their best 

 grades in attractive packages. 



The advisability of marketing farm 

 produce in as convenient a form as 

 possible for handling is universally 

 admitted, and the advent of the apple 



One view of the apple-grading machine as used 

 successfully at thp Oka Agricultural Institute. 



box, even in our Quebec Province, for 

 such apples as Fameuse, Mcintosh, and 

 Wealthy, has marked the entering 

 wedge in the better organization oi 

 the orchard. The reason the apple box- 

 is so well liked is because only well- 

 graded and uniform apples can be 

 thus sold in the same box, as the differ- 

 ent packs adopted will not come out 

 true if the grading and sizing has not 

 been well done. 



There is no reason not to grade and 

 size uniformly even apples of first 

 quality that enter into a barrel. The 

 barrel, it is true, has for so many years 

 been the cloak which covered, not so 

 much inferior grades of apples, as un- 

 graded and unsized apples. The barrel 

 has seemed to encourage carelessness 

 in grading, for how many times have 

 not inspectors seen the top and bottom 

 artistically faced, and in the space be- 

 tween have found the general run of 

 the pick? 



The law on apple grading for No. 1 

 apples is not so very exacting, as we 

 may put in the barrel apples of well- 

 grown specimens of one variety, sound, 

 of not less than medium size, etc. Of 

 ' course a medium -sized apple differs 

 from a large and a very large apple, 

 so there is considerable latitude left, 

 and in one barrel one can find medium, 

 large and very large apples. Could 

 we not put up a barrel pack by which 

 we could put in one barrel the medium, 

 in another the large, and in a third 



barrel the very large specimens of the 

 same variety, but at the same time 

 have still a No. 1 pack? In a word, 

 could we not get a uniform pack of 

 apples of quality No. 1 in the barrel 

 as well as in the box? 



Much can be said in favor of this 

 practice. It gives the buyer a more 

 favorable impression when all the fruit 

 within a given package is of uniform 

 grade and size. As certain dealers re- 

 quire large apples for their trade, and 

 others demand a rather medium size, 

 the practice has an economic import- 

 ance that we can readily understand. 



The objection is sometimes heard 

 that large apples packed by themselves 

 do not carry as well as a mixture of 

 medium and large sized apples. This 

 has not been the case with us in our 

 shipments of barrels packed in a uni- 

 form grade. 



The real objection comes from those 

 growers who say that the grading of 



No. 1 apples in uniform sizes is quite 

 a job. I admit this, and yet no packer 

 can put up a uniform paok that has 

 not been accurately graded. Here is 

 where the grading machine comes in to 

 help the fruit grower. 



We have been using a grading ma- 

 chine at Oka for the last two seasons, 

 both for barrel and box packing. Now 

 we would not do without it. As most 

 of our apples are packed by the stu- 

 dents at the College, who thus have a 

 great chance to acquire some practical 

 experience in packing apples, one 

 readily understands the usefulness of 

 such a machine. The boys handle only 

 fruit graded very accurately and of 

 uniform size. 



Here is a brief description of the 

 Model C Schellenger machine we have 

 operated with such success that two 

 other co-operative societies in the 

 Province of Quebec, at Rougemont and 

 Abbotsford, have purchased the same 

 machine and are satisfied also in say- 

 ing that for a large fruit farm or a 

 co-operative society such a machine is 



(Concluded on page 223.) 



Marketing the Nova Scotia Apple Crop 



By A. E. Adams, Secretary of the United Fruit Companies of N. S., Limited, 



SEVEN years ago such a matter as 

 co-operation was unknown in the 

 Valley. To-day seventy per cent, 

 of the fruit growers are artive co-oper- 

 ators, owning fifty-five warehouses, 

 marketing all their fruit co-operatively, 

 and buying all their supplies in a simi- 

 lar manner. A parallel to this cannot 

 be found as far as rapidity of develop- 

 ment is concerned. 



Ten years ago there was an entire 



lack of system in the method of mar- 

 keting the apple crop. Each grower 

 fought for himself. He made the best 

 bargains he could with buyers who 

 knew considerably more about the mar- 

 ket than he did, or he took the big 

 risk of shipping his product to London, 

 knowing nothing whatever as to the 

 condition of that market, and paying 

 big tolls to commissionmen agents. 

 Certain favored individuals took 



The apple-grading machine, with side receiving tables, as used at the Oka Agricultural Insti- 

 tute. Note the gasoline engine at the left, which provides the power. This is the same engine 

 engine that is used on the spraying machine. 



