282 



THE APPLE 



3 to 3} feet. The tables have boards nailed to the sides, making 

 a boxlike structure with the sides from 6 to 8 inches above the top 

 of the table. To prevent bruising the fruit the sides and bottom 

 are padded. From two to three barrels of apples may be spread 

 out upon this table, thus allowing the grader a large enough quan- 

 tity to insure a uniform grade and to make rapid work possible. 



Fig. 129. Fall work in the orchard 



Grading the fruit and packing in barrels. Notice the simple device for heading, 

 near the man at the left 



The man who starts the grading should finish the job, in order 

 to maintain a uniform grade of apples. Frequent shifting of graders 

 is sure to prove unsatisfactory. 



Each apple is carefully inspected by the grader and rated as first 

 grade or second grade according to some one of the many rules 

 used as a standard. A good deal of the grading also depends largely 

 on the common sense of the grader. 



Recently large growers have begun to use grading machines. 

 After many years of experimenting, fairly satisfactory machines 



