26 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 
idea of what makes up a grade. The grades of fruit 
might be defined as a division into classes, according to 
a certain custom or law. In the past there never has 
been any very definite conception of just what a standard 
grade should be. This led to a great multiplicity of 
marks to represent grades. In fact, they have appeared 
on the market in such numbers that they scarcely mean 
Fig. 19—CENTRAL PACKING-HOUSES FOR ORANGES IN A 
SMALL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TOWN 
anything to the consuming public. What would mean 
a fancy grade under one mark in one section of the 
country, might be a very poor grade when coming from 
another section. Only last year on the Liverpool market 
in England, 35 different brands representing supposedly 
standard grades, were found on packages imported from 
the United States and Canada. Under such conditions, 
it has been necessary for the buyer to open the package 
and examine the fruit personally. 
For the past 10 or 15 years certain progressive fruit 
