Evening journal., 1915-02-16
SUMNER APPLES AND THE GRADING BILL.


UROM Of the leading and most progressive fruit
growers in Kent county. who has sent to
market tens OF thousands Of bushels of apples and hun
dreds Of thousands of packages of other fruit we have
received the following letter which, think. is de-
serving of the attention Of members of the Legislature,
of Governor Miller and of all the apple In the
State particularly those who raise Summer apples:
To the Editor Of THE EVENING JOURNAL:
Sir-rhere is pending before our Legislature
House bill No. lOS to amend Chapter 81 os the Re
vised Code of this State by providing regulations in
respect to the grading packing, marking shipping and
sale of apples This bill is very stringent and exactng
It provides no exemptions of varieties time of ripen
ing gathering; hence If said bill becomes a law,
all Summer and immature apples gathered I'm June,
July and early August marketed culinary fruit and
greatly desired by our markets If allowed to be gath
cred at ALL would necessarily have to be marked,
ungraded uncassihed to the financial deriment of
the grower and shipper
The writer is aiming speak from experience hav-
ing been fruit grower for more than forty years Tic
has marketed thousands of bushels of Summer appes
in June, July and August and found these Summer
apples quite profitable. Moreover the buyers, COM
mission firms and markets demand that said fruits
shall be GREEN, or immature. IL approaching ripe
ness, the said apples are rejected or sold at ser
ious sacrifice This also applies TO gooseberres. In
fact. want and demand GREEN apples. Green
apple pic" is very familiar restaurant sign during
As outlined by House bill No 1OS none OF the
Summer apples would grade Del. Fancy. Del. A. and
very few Del b. grades why? Principally on ac-
count of size. Again the bill provides. diameter e.
he taken transyersely' How about our elongated
Who IS to Judge grade when apples offered for
sale on commission mems stands in distant city mar
kets?
The writer has always acted and believed that pack
ing and grading fruits was personal matter, the
same making wares in any other business attractive
TO catch the prospective buyers eyes II Mr. A
shines Mr. B. then takes the cake" Il takes help
and time. and lots of It. TO handle fruit and when
weather Is hot time counts wonderfully I do not
know who is fathering. promulgatng fostering
House bill No. i0S II certainly cannot be large
crs OF Summer apples.
The sorting grading and packing of late Fall and
Winter apples when time is not precious may suit
some large growers, but why try TO compel your neigh
hor by law, TO do what you may think is correct? You
may be misled and wrong. Furthermore. mans fruit
is his own TO dispose OF as he f and the manipu-
uation, packing. grading etc. personal matter
II House Bill No los becomes law discomfort will
surely follow An amendment to exclude Summer and
immature June July and August apples should surely
be inserted in the bill
A LIFELONG FRUIT GROWER
II that letter we're not from who has made a
big in fruit growing and who also is prominent
in the Peninsula Horticultural Society the National
Grange and the State Grange we should not give IL
such prominence. However. when a man who ranks
as a pioneer in the matter of sending well-paoked
fruit to market points out such defects in grading bill
discussed above Il is certainly time for Della
ware apple growers pass upon the BILL and for our
Senators and Representatives to defer action until
they have passed upon it, No matter how audabe the
motive may be underlying such apple grading bill,
its provisions should be passed upon by practical
and not by theorists The people of State
tanly do not want bill passed that would destroy
the value Of the States Summer apples which arc
small and must be marketed green TO sell advan-
tageously for culinary purposes Nor do they want
bill passed providing scale of grading measurements
that fails TO recognize the fact that varieties OF
| Fall and Winter apples are long while others are
short and squat Under such conditions the transverse
diameter test would throw into the grades many
of the best long apples produced in this State. The
bin also is defective in that fails to provide for in
specors at the shipping points in this State at the
/ receiving points outside the State The committee
having charge of the bill should call in the Sopers the
Derbys. the Bancrofs the Masseys and other up-to-
date apple growers and get their views relative tC
amendments that will put it in practical shape