298 The Commercial Apple Industry 



\ 

 equipment, but in its use there is danger that inferior 



fruit will crowd past the sorter. Although the slatted 



table is widely employed throughout the East and Middle 



West, it seems probable that its place will be taken more 



and more by the mechanical sizer or burlap-top table. 



Some barrel apple-growers, and particularly those in- 

 terested in a more careful pack, employ the canvas or 

 burlap-top table, which is usually about three feet high, 

 three feet wide and six or eight feet long. The apples are 

 emptied directly from the tree onto the top of the table. 

 Sorters then grade out the fruit, usually placing it in 

 baskets or receptacles according to its grade. Under this 

 system, two grades are ordinarily packed out, the culls 

 being thrown to one side in a pile or placed in separate 

 barrels. The packer stands behind the sorter and fills 

 previously faced barrels with the fruit according to its 

 grade. 



The use of canvas or burlap-top table facilitates more 

 careful handling and sorting than the slatted-top table. 

 In the case of either, the picker usually carries his own 

 fruit directly to the table, although in some instances the 

 work of transferring fruit from the base of the tree to 

 the packing-table is done by additional workmen. As 

 previously pointed out, the latter system is more efficient. 



Before discussing packing-house equipment, it should 

 be mentioned that portable sizing machines have been 

 used to some extent in orchard packing. 



Packing-houses for barreled apples. 



While orchard packing still predominates, the rapidly 

 increasing number of packing-houses throughout the bar- 

 rel apple states is a distinct sign of progress. Some ad- 



