GRADING FOR PROFIT 77 



Beyond what sorting can be done at the time of 

 gathering fruits for immediate sale, there will always 

 be much in a large establishment that will require a 

 special arrangement for the work of grading. For 

 apples a few large growers and dealers have adopted 

 a machine that is constructed to carry out the grading 

 with great rapidity and with sufficient thoroughness for 

 all such crops in bulk, except perhaps the choicest and 

 ripest samples. One large fruit-merchant speaks favour- 

 ably of the machine, its work, and the cost ; but if really 

 efficient it could only be pecuniarily satisfactory where 

 the supplies are both extensive and continuous over a 

 long period. Such appliances are therefore better suited 

 for the dealer or salesman than for the grower, who 

 rarely in this country has such enormous crops as would 

 render their employment necessary or profitable. 



Packing sheds of the best type, light and spacious, 

 with central tables upon which the fruits can be turned 

 out for the sorting, are in consequence best adapted to 

 the requirements of the majority of home growers. 

 Sheds are a necessity, and the provision of the additional 

 convenience for fruit-grading is a comparatively small 

 matter. Ordinary long wooden tables of the simplest 

 construction, cheap but strong, can be easily adapted to 

 the purpose by fitting them with rims to prevent the 

 fruits rolling off. Large trays that can be moved about 

 as required are also very convenient, as no alteration 

 of the tables is then needed, and they can be stored 

 away when the sorting season is over. They should 

 be higher at the back than the front, the bottom also 

 sloping slightly in the same way ; they may be any 

 width, provided they are not too heavy ; but the depth 

 (from back to front) must be regulated to the grader's 

 work, 3 feet in depth being the maximum, and in an 

 ordinary way about 2 feet to i\ feet is the most service- 

 able for fruit generally. The construction of such trays 



