STANDARDIZATION AND INSPECTION FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 19 
kinds of produce are made the year-round, an extensive organization of in- 
spectors is required. The Federal supervisors in such States have found it 
necessary to establish branch inspection offices in the various producing districts. 
Competent and experienced inspectors are placed in charge of these offices and 
every effort is made to render quick and efficient service to applicants for in- 
spection. Certificates of inspection are usually typed in and mailed from these 
branch offices, because to have this work done in the central State office would 
cause considerable delay. 
In contrast to this type of highly diversified shipping- -point inspection work, 
the bulk of the inspection work for the year in some States is handled through 
one central temporary office where possibly a large volume of work may be 
confined to one or two crops for a short period of time. The Georgia peach deal, 
the Mississippi cabbage deal, and the early potato deals in the Atlantic seaboard 
States are examples of deals of this sort. 
The shipping season for these crops lasts for only a few weeks or months 
and shipments inspected during these short periods constitute the bulk of the 
shipping-point inspection work for the year. Consequently, the Federal super- 
visor in charge of inspection for the deal sets up an organization to handle it 
adequately, after which the temporary office may be closed until the following 
season. Miscellaneous requests for inspection of the products produced in smaller 
volume at various times are then handled from the State’s headquarters for 
shipping-point inspection. 
Training Shipping-Point Inspectors 
At the beginning of a shipping season of an important crop, the Federal super- 
visor usually assembles his inspection force, including experienced and inex- 
perienced men, for training in grade interpretations and general inspection pro- 
cedure. In some States regular training schools for inspectors are held prior to 
the opening of a shipping season or a canning deal. In Ohio, Indiana, and 
several other States where a large number of inspectors are employed to inspect 
the tomatoes delivered to canneries for processing, training schools are held 
annually for them just prior to the harvesting season. Such schools are consid- 
ered necessary for the proper training of such large groups of men, because 
uniformity of grade interpretation is of great importance in the proper conduct 
of the service. Similar schools are held in Florida, Texas, California, Washing- 
ton, Maine, and many other States for training inspectors to inspect such im- 
portant crops as citrus, apples, and potatoes. 
At these schools trainees are instructed in all phases of the inspection of the 
product covered in the school. They are expected to become familiar with all the 
requirements of the various grades for the product established by the U. S. 
standards. Probably the most important attribute of a capable inspector is a 
thorough knowledge of the grades of the fruit or vegetable he inspects. He 
must be able to identify the various defects and diseases that affect the particular 
product and to place the individual specimens in their correct grade classification. 
Various methods are employed to enable the inspector to gain this necessary 
knowledge. Supervisors and other trained inspectors assist him by demonstrating 
the sorting of samples of the product into their proper grade. For scoring certain 
defects, grade definitions are specific and the inspector needs only to follow the 
written specifications. Certain other types of defects, such as those classified 
s “off-color” or “misshapen,” can be defined only in general descriptive terms, 
so he must gain this information by being shown specific examples of a product 
with such defects or by the use of visual aids. 
