Grading the Fruit 



385 



the same may be true of tree-fruits that have been well 



grown and rigorously thinned. In most cases, however, 



tree-fruits are made into three grades, the third grade 



being known as 



culls. Persons who 



sort their fruit as 



carefully as our 



definition requires 



will do well to desig- 



nate the first 



grade by some spe- 

 cial name or mark, 



as "Selected," 



"First Choice," and 



the hke, to distin- 

 guish it from the 



common type of so- 



called first-class 



fruit. In such 



thorough sorting, 

 four grades are 

 often necessary 

 properly to present 

 the fruit to the 

 various tj^jes of con- 

 sumers. It should 

 be remarked, how- 

 ever, that the better the fruit as it hangs on the tree or 

 vine, the fewer will be the grades in the packing-house. 



The packing of fruit, therefore, comprises two rather 

 distinct elements, — ^the sorting or grading (which has now 

 been considered), and the placing of the fruits in the final 

 receptacles, or packing proper, to which we now proceed. 



Fig. 149. Various types of fruit packages. 



