INSPECTION « BERRIES FOR PROCESSING
INTRODUCTION

Blackberries, dewberries and other similar types of berries, such
as Boysenberries, Loganberries and Youngberries, all belonging to the
genus Rubus, are cultivated quite extensively in many parts of the
United States, particularly the Pacific States, the Central States, and
the Middle and South Atlantic States, Blackberries and dewberries also
grow wild along fence rows and in valleys and ravines throughout these
States. Many of these wild berries are harvested and sold to processors.
Some quantities also find their way to fresh market and, taken as a whole,
the harvesting of these wild berries furnishes considerable income to
people living in such sections of these States.

Processors in the Pacific Northwest obtain the bulk of their supplies
from growers of cultivated berries, However, in certain eastern sections,
such as eastern Tennessee, many processors secure almost all of their
supplies from pickers of berries that grow wild, Many of them engage
truckers to make daily trips through certain regions to pick up Derries
picked by the inhabitants during the day. Some truckers act as buyers
and pay cash to pickers for the berries, then haul to the processor who
will bid the highest for the load.

HARVESTING AND HANDLING

Most berries are picked in the regular berry baskets used in the

particular locality where grom. They may be 1/2-pint, l-pint or J-quart .

size. Secondary containers or crates for holding the cups or baskets

are of various sizes and types. Crates most commonly used in the eastern
part of the country hold 24 pints or 16, 24, and 32 quarts. In the Middle
West, crates are usually made for holding 24 pints or 16 quarts.

In the Pacific Northwest cultivated berries are handled from the
field to the plant in cannery flats which hold one layer of cups. How-
ever, these cups have special dimensions of 5a" x 54° x 2" and are not
used in handling of berries for fresh market. The flat, which is
approximately 24" x 17 x 23", is constructed with a divider through the
center to give it strength and holds 12 cups. It has no cover, In load—
ing on the truck the flats arc loaded as high as the roof will permit.

At the processing plant a stack of flats is handled with a trucking
board under the stack to permit the prongs of the handtruck to slide
under the stack, The cups are never removed from these flats except in
case cof accidental spilling. When the dumper dumps a flat of berries
onto the grading belt or into the wash tank ahead of the grading belt,
he swings a hinged frame of heavy wire rods down onto the flat; chen
swings the frame and flat together over and forward to empty all of the
berries in the flat with one movement, ‘One rod over the center of each
row of cups retains the cups in the flat. This system of handling berries
is not only labor saving but it holds mechanical damage to the berries
to a minimum, -

Wild blackberries of western Washington and Oregon are picked by
the natives and delivered to processors in cans and buckets of various

sizes;

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)

68° to 77° are best for breeding of the pest. Flies begin laying eggs
when 24. hours old and the eggs will hatch in less than 24 hours.

The complete life cycle under optimum flonditions is only eight days.

Infestation of berries mostly takes place after the druplets of
the berries are crushed. The flies are attracted to the exposed juice.
As fermentation of the juice develops more of the insects are attracted.
Females soon start to deposit eggs which will hatch into larvae in a few
hours. Such rapid infestation calls for the utmost care in seeing that
berries are handled carefully and that they are processed as soon as
possible after picking.

No tolerance is permitted in either U. S. No. Lor U. S. No, 2
grades for lots of berries infested with worms, It is not intended
that the inspector shall make a crushing test of a composite sample of
berries to determine the presence or absence of insect larvae, However,
he should view with suspicion lots of berries which have been badly
crushed or are overripe. He should make a close visual examination of
sich berries and, of course, if worms are found to be present, the lot
should be refused a grade designation and certified as "unclassified."

Other Defects:

Berries are often injured in some manner by hail, birds, or
mechanical means. If berries are damaged by such means for processing
purposes they should be scored as defective.

INSPECTION MEMORANDUM

After completing the inspection of a lot the inspector should
carefully check his notations and calculations on the note sheet and
make sure that he has classified the lot correctly. He is then ready
to fill out the inspection memorandum, which is the official record of
he inspection. No regular insnection memorandum has yet been developed
for berries. However, the form FDA-27 used for products such as cannin,
tomatoes, having space for recording U. S. No. 1, U. S. No, 2 and Culls,
may be used. There are provided blanks for recording weights and
percentages of each grade on these forms. However, these are not
applicable to berries so the inspector need only draw lines through the
names of the grades not applicable to the lot inspected, axtending the
lines through the columns headed pounds and percent. For example, if a
lot is U. S. No. 1, draw lines through the "U.S. No. 2" and "Culls"
designations. If the lot is "Unclassified" a line should be drawn
through the word "culls" and the word "Unclassified" substituted.

Memorandum Number. Memoranda are numbered serially and every. onc
should be accounted for. If a memorandum must be discarded because
of a mistake, write "void" across the original and each copy and leave
them in the pad.


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First lift the lids on a few crates to get a general idea of the
quality of the load. Then select a cup from a crate or cannery flat,
carry it to the grading table and empty it into the grading pan. A
rogular strawberry grading pan is a handy utensil if available, Next pour
part of the berries back in the cup, then weigh out the required weight on
the scales, The size of the weighed sample to take will depend somewhat
on the time that the inspector has for making his inspection of individual
loads, If the time is short, perhaps a 200-gram sample from each cup will
suffice. If time permits, a larger sample would be better.

After weighing the sample, pour the berries from the scale pan back
into the grading pan and quickly pick out the off-colored and otherwise
defective berries, placing them on small trays. When the separations of
the off-~colored and defective berries are complete, they should be weighed
and the amounts recorded on the note sheet. Additional samples should then
be taken and handled in the same manner and when the inspection for the
load is completed the percentages of off—colored and defective berries
should be calculated. The final operation is to determine the grade as
shown by the calculations on the note sheet and then fill out the memorandum.

Note Sheet. The following is a sample note sheet showing the minimum
amount of information necessary to properly determine the grade of a lot
of berries, as well as recorded percentages for a lot of blackberries which
grades J. S. No. 1. In this note sheet, columns are provided for weights.
However, if an even weight in multiples of 100 grams is used for the sample
being graded, the weight need not be recorded as the inspector can easily
convert the weights in grams to vercentages by mental arithmetic. For
example, if a 200~gram sample is used, weights of separations need only
be halved in order to get the percentage to be recorded. Beams on gram
scales may permit reading weights to 1/10 of a gram, However, weights
read to the nearest whole gram are sufficiently accurate for insnection
purposes.

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£22)

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Weight of: Other Total

v) Red_ berries _: Immature berries:Defects :Defects

: Pot, : Grams +: Pet. :Grams:Pct: Pct.

: RR: 4 2 2 : wu: 7: 9

> 8 3 0 : O =: 20: 10: 10

: 5 ¢ 2 : Ll oo: 12: 6: 7

200 s 30: 15 ¢ re) ‘ fo) 2 lO: 5: 5

200 : 20: 10 : 6 2 3 : 16: 8 lb

200 32: 16 : i} 2.0: As 7 vi

Total ~1200 : 132: 66 : 12 2 6 86: 43: 49
Av, Pct, - 100 A 21: sl: 27s 8



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SAMPLING

Trial inspection of blackberries in 1946 demonstrated that
inspection would have to be done rapidly in order to be practicable.
In Tennessee where several processors accept deliveries of wild black-
berries, most truckers arrived at receiving stations between 6:00 P.M.
and 9:00 P.M. Settlement for the berries is made after the berries
are weighed and unloaded. Thus, the inspector mst calculate the
grade of the berries on the load in a comparatively short time.

Since each crate or flat may contain boxes picked by several
different pickers, the inspection will be more accurate by making
a rapid inspection of part of the berries in several boxes from
different containers rather than a detailed inspection of all the
berries in a few boxes from a few containers, As a minimum the
inspector should aim to analyze at least a part of the berries
in one cup in every five containers of berries in the lot. If
crates are lidded it is also advisable to raise the lids on many
crates from which samples are not talcen in order to ascertain
whether boxes selected as samples are representative.

EQUIPMENT

The following equipment is necessary for making grade
determinations and reporting results:

1. Work table.

2. Scales (scales with beams graduated in grams are
preferable). :

3. Pans or trays for holding samples and defects.

4. Inspector's note sheet.

5. Inspection memoranda.

A scale with beams graduated in grams should be provided for
berry inspection if possible, because percentage calculations can
be made so mich easier. Scales with beams graduated in pounds
and ounces and fractions thereof are usually not sensitive enough
to weigh accurately small amounts of defective or off-colored berries.

INSPECTION PROCEDURE

The inspection table should be set up near the point of un-
loading the berries and where there is good light. If the in-
spector. must work under artifical light, as is often the case,
daylight bulbs should be provided. As soon as a truck backs
up to the unloading platform the inspector should start his
inspection. The following procedure was found to be rapids


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Dried, undeveloped _and shriveled berries. Occasional berries (19)

will be encountered in the average lot which have some of the druplets
dried or undeveloped and which will cause the berry to have a misshapen
or shriveled appearance, It is difficult to classify the berry as to ‘
the cause for such malformation so, therefore, it is well to group such
defective berries together. A berry which has more than one-fourth of
tne druplets dried or undeveloped should be scored as a grade defect.

Dirt, Other Foreign Matter:

Damage by dirt on berries is ordinarily not an important factor. (20)
However, if berries were picked from bushes growing beside a dusty road
they might be dirty enough to fail to classify as to grade. Sometimes
pickers get careless and allow an excessive amount of foreign material,
such as dead leaves and small twigs to get into the cups. Lots with
excessive amounts of such material should not be classified as meeting
requirements of either grade. Occasionally, unscripulous growers or
pickers place rocks or other such heavy cbjects in boxes of berries to make
them weigh heavier, If lots so doctored are discovered an "unclassified"
designation should be given to the lot.

Moisture:

In some wild blackberry regions it has been rather common practice (21)
for some growers to pour water over the crates of berries in order to
increase the weight. In one instance in 1946, crates were discovered
where the cups had been lined with paper in order to retain more water.
Lots of berries so watered should definitely not be classed as meeting
the requirements of either grade. Likewise lots which have become
excessively wet from rain should be given the designation "unclassified."

Sunscald:

Often some of the druplets on a berry will he injured by sunscald (22)
and have a whitish appearance. Berries which show material damage from
such injury should be scorett as defective.

Insect Infestation:

Tho fruit gnat (Drosophilla sp.) more commanly knovm as the "sour (23)
gnat" cr "vinegar gnat" is the most troublesome insect that infests
berries. These gnats are small yellowish flies about one-eighth inch
in length always found about the refuse of cider mills, decaying fruits,
vegetables and fermenting vats of grape juice. The fly lays an ogg about
1/25 inch in length, Within a short time the egg hatches into a tiny
maggot slightly longer than the egg. The maggot makes a rapid growth and
reaches a length of about 1/4 inch, Records show that temperatures of


E>.
=i: United State:
Oy Department of

ES BERRIES FOR PROCESSING

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wrens SHIPPING POINT
vse” INSPECTION INSTRUCTIONS



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Insvection Point, Processor, Grower, Date and Hour, The name (29)
of gthe inspection point and the name of the processor may be stamped or
written on a number of memoranda before the inspection work begins in
order to save time.

The grower's name and the date and time of inspection should be (30)
filled in at the time of making the inspection, However, there is no
objection to dating a number of memoranda at one time provided no more
are dated than will be used the same day.

Products Inspected and Number of Containers. Under this heading (31)
indicate the name of the product such as "Blackberries," "Boysenberries,"

etc., in accordance with the facts, The number of containers in the load
should be recorded under "Number of Containers."

Remarks, Notations such as principal defects, off-color; etc. my (32)
be shown under this heading if requested by the processor.

Signature on Memorandum, The inspector shall sign the memorandum ~ (33)
with his name exactly as it appears on his license card. This warning
is given because some new inspectors have- signed only thair initials or
simply their last name on the memorandum, Legally, either of these signa-
tures would be worthless.

Distributing Memorandum Copies. The original memorandum is issued (34)
to the applicant or party who requests inspection, which is usually the
processor; one copy is given to the grower, and another is retained in
the nad for office records.

Care of Memoranda, Inspectors should take necessary precautions (35)
to prevent blank memoranda from falling into the hands of persons who
have no right to use them. No person may lawfully sign them excent one
who has been duly licensed by a Federal Supervisor.

Each inspector will be held responsible for the return of all (36)
unused memoranda to his Supervisor at the close of the season.

During the inspection season, copies of completed memoranda (37)
shall be kept in numerical order where they may be made available when~
ever any financially interested party or Supervising Inspector desires
to see them, These shall be sent to the Supervisor at the close of the
season.

Results of Inspection Confidential, Inspectors mist not divulge (38)
information to growers or to competitive processors concerning the results
of inspections of individual grower's lots or the general quality of the
berries delivered to a plant or assembling station, Statements in which
comparisons are made of quality of various growers' lots sometimes prove
very embarrassing to the Inspection Service.


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Some processors may desire that inspectors keep a record of
the types of defects and show them on the memoranda so as to inform
growers where their® pickers have erred. In such a case, and if time
permits, additional columns for defective berries may be added.
For example, the following headings on the score sheet would serve
this purpose:

Weight: Pet. red:Pet. Im-:Pct. decay: Pet. +: Pet.caps: Pct. +: Poet.
of : berries : mature : soft, ‘sshriveled:attached : Other :total
Sample: H scrushed _:misshapen: : Defects:defects

Color, Berries, in order to meet the requirements of U.S, No. 1
grade, must be well colored, which means that at least 85 percent of
the berries must have the color characteristic of well ripened berries
and not more than 3 percent may have the color of distinctly immature
berries, Similarly, U. S. No. 2 berries must have at least 75 percent
of the berries with the color characteristic of well ripened berries and
not more than § vercent may have the color of distinctly immature berries.
This simply means that in a lot of berries which is characteristically
blue or black when well ripened, an average of 85 percent must be blue or
black, 12 percent may be red and 3 percent may be light red, whitish or
green and the lot will grade U. S. No. 1 as far as color is concerned.
Similarly, U. S, No. 2 berries must average 75 percent blue or black
berries, and 20 percent may be red and 5 percent may be light red, whitish
or green.

If the lot of berries being inspected is characteristically red
when well ripened, a lot to grade U. S. No. 1 must average at least 85
percent red berries and would permit 12 percent light red and 3 percent
whitish or green berries, A lot of red berries would grade U. S. No. 2
if it averaged 75 percent red berries, 20 nercent light red and 5 percent
whitish or green berries,

Owing to variations in characteristic color of different kinds and
varieties of berries, when well ripened, the inspector must necessarily
use some judgment in determining the borderline for the color of distinctly
immature berries.

Defects:

Mold, Decay, Crushed, Soft, Unless mycelium is actually present
ona berry, it is difficult to tell whether a berry is decayed or not.
A berry might have the appearance of being crushed, yet a decay organism
may have caused the druplets to break down. Berries which are soft may
also be decaying, but from an appearance standpoint it would be difficult
to determine whether decay organisms arc actually present. Thus, for all
vractical purposes it is well to score decayed, moldy, crushed and soft
berries in one group. The inspector will soon learn to distinguish soft
berries by the dead appearance and loss of luster on the druplets.
Berries which have more than one-fourth of the druplets crushed should
be scored as defective.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
HARVESTING AND HANDLING
SANPLING

EQUIPKENT

INSPECTION PROCEDURE

Note Sheet
Color
Defects

Molds, Decay, Crushed, Soft

Dried, Undeveloped, Shriveled Berries
Dirt, Other Foreign Matter

Moisture

Sunscald

Insect Infestation

Other Defects

INSPECTION MEMORANDUM

Memorandum Number

Inspection Point, Processor, Grower,
Date and Hour

Products Inspected and Number
of Containers

Remarks

Signature on Memorandum

Distributing Memorandum Copies

fare of Memoranda

Results of Inspection Confidential

Paragraph
Number

le 2
3 5
bn 7
Bg
10-26
13-14
15-17
18-26
18
19
20
21

23-25
26

27=38
28
2930
31
32
33

35~37
38


SHIPPING POINT INSPECTION HANDBOOK FOR BERRIES FOR PROCESSING

Washington, D. C.
June 1947
Reissued March 1957 1/

/ The only change in this reissue of March 1957 is in the name of
the organization.

Agriculture - Washington