impartial inspection service on these commodi- 
ties available nationwide to growers, processors, 
shippers, receivers and other financially in- 
terested parties on a fee-for-service basis. 
Yardsticks of Quality 
U.S, grade standards carefully describe the 
quality requirements for each distinct grade of a 
commodity. The highest grade represents the 
quality that is desired most by the trade. The 
lower grades represent quality levels that are 
less desirable but are of good value and mer- 
chantable under normal market supply con- 
ditions. 
The number of grades and the grade names 
included in a standard vary, depending on the 
number of distinct quality gradations that the 
industry normally recognizes and its established 
usage of grade names for the commodity. Two 
or three distinct grades are usually enough to 
meet normal trading demands for most fruits 
and vegetables. Most grades are designatedU.S. 
Fancy, U.S. No. 1, and U.S. No. 2. Some com- 
modities, however, lend themselves to separa- 
tion into several quality classes. For these, a 
greater number of grades are provided, 
Many standards also provide for additional 
grade names, such as U.S, Extra No. 1, U.S. 
Extra Fancy, U.S, Combination, U.S. Commer- 
cial and U.S. No. 3. In some cases a modifica- 
tion of these grade numbers is used--for 
example, U.S. Extra No. 1 Table Grapes, or 
U.S. No. 1 Bright grapefruit. A few standards, 
designated as Consumer Standards, use alpha- 
betical grade names, such as U.S, Grade A, 
Bor G. 
"Grade Names Used in U.S, Standards for 
Farm Products,’ AH-157, lists all of these 
grade names by commodities. Single copies are 
available from Marketing Information Division, 
Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 20250. 
| The Beginning | 
Around the turn of the century, when fertile 
new areas of production were opened far from 
3 
