UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
j&$ m Q*ru 
BULLETIN No. 864 
Contribution from the Bureau of Markets 
GEORGE LIVINGSTON, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
July 28, 1920 
A PEACH-SIZING MACHINE. 
ByMANLEY Stockton, Investigator in Marketing, and J. F. Barghausen, Investigator 
in Agricultural Technology. 
The sizing machine described in this bulletin was developed to 
meet a demand from peach growers for a simple and efficient machine 
that would accurately and carefully size and distribute peaches to 
the packing bins. In addition to those features which are always 
highly desirable in sizing machines, such as sufficient capacity for 
economical operation, substantial construction, and freedom from 
delicate adjustments, it was necessary to produce at a reasonable 
cost (the estimated cost of building single machines at the present 
price of materials should not exceed $450), a machine which would 
not injure tender fruit by bruising or roughening the pubescence. 
Several sizers were in use in the northern and southern sections when 
the first experimental machine was built and put in the field, but exist- 
ing types were open to the general objection that they were too expen- 
sive for the smaller grower or, if relatively inexpensive, either were 
not accurate enough or handled the fruit too roughly. 
While the sizer described herein (see fig. 1) was developed primarily 
to meet the needs peculiar to the packing of peaches in 6-basket car- 
riers, it may also be used, with a few slight changes in the bin con- 
struction, for jumble packing of bushel baskets. Furthermore, al- 
though the bureau does not officially indorse its use for sizing other 
crops, it is believed that this machine may be adapted to the sizing 
of other fruits, such as pears and apples. Where barrel packs are used 
for apples and no necessity exists for sizing the crop into numerous 
exact size classes, as is the case in box packing, this machine could 
probably be used with as good results as any other machine which sizes 
the fruit by measurement. 
CONSTRUCTION. 
In designing this machine an effort was made to specify as many 
standard parts as possible in order to facilitate construction. In the 
conveyer section (fig. 2) the wood framework is simply made and 
180761°— 20— BulL 864 
