304 The Commercial Apple Industry 



are commonly spoken of as: (1) Extra Fancy, (2) 

 Fancy, and (3) C grade. Grading rules governing these 

 three grades vary slightly from year to year. In a gen- 

 eral way, however, only normal apples approaching physi- 

 cal perfection are specified as falling within the Extra 

 Fancy grade. Greater tolerance in the way of color re- 

 quirements and blemishes is permitted in the Fancy grade, 

 although the fruit must be perfectly sound -and of a high 

 marketable quality. The " C " grade permits poorly 

 colored or slightly misshapen fruit which is still sound. 

 In the Pacific Northwest, all three grades are wrapped 

 with paper, the diagonal pack being used. 



It is customary to hire sorters by the day while packing 

 is by the piece. In the inter-mountain regions including 

 the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, all grades 

 are not wrapped. In these states, a jumble or face and fill 

 pack is common except in the case of Extra Fancy apples. 



It is interesting to know that in the movement for 

 standardization of grades and packs, less attention is being 

 given to grading by size and more according to quality 

 and physical perfection. This is particularly applicable 

 to the Northwest where the size of apples is clearly indi- 

 cated by the number stamped on the outside of the box. 



The mechanical sizer, although growing in popularity 

 and more widely used in the West than elsewhere, is not 

 universal among all box apple-growers. It is generally 

 felt that a mechanical sizer is only practicable when the 

 crop amounts to 10,000 boxes or more. Many western 

 growers still prefer to sort out their fruit from canvas or 

 burlap-top tables similar to those used in the East and 

 Middle West. Still others sort directly from the picking 

 boxes as they are drawn to the packing-house. When hand 



