Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1917-09-05
F A r M A N d
O r G HI A II u
New Laws Compel Honest Packing
of Michigan Fruit


New Laws Compel Honest Packing
of Michigan Fruit
Fruit grown and packed in Michi-
gan this season will, under two new
state laws which have just become
effective, be required to sail under it's
own colors and be all that its label
proclaims it to be. Still other pro-
visions OF the measures fix standard
, barrel dimensions and specify the
various grades of apples, according
to the department of horticulture of
the Michigan Agriculture college.
Fruit growers, the department says,
will save themselves trouble if they
will familiarize themselves with the
laws, enforcement of which have been
delegated to the state dairy and pure
food commission, from which copies
OF the measure can be obtained.
The laws were drawn up and pass
ed to protect the honest fruit grower
from interruptions competitors who
have in the past not been over parti-
cular as to whether or not their pro-
ducts were as good as their labels an
nounced them to be, and to give
Michigan-grown fruit better stand
ing in the market.
A few details of the act as compiled
by John II. Carmody, extension agent
in horticulture for M. A. C. are given
below:
sin case of apples, the Daigneau
bill provides among other things for
the proper dimensions of the barrel.
The standard barrel of apples, when
measured without destention of it's
: parts, must be as follows: Length of
slaves twenty-eight and one-half
inches; diameter of heads, seventeen
and one-eighth inches; distance be-
tween heads, twenty-six inches; cir
conference of bulge, sixty-four
inches; outside measurement and the
thickness of slaves not greater than
four-tenths of an inch. Any barrel
of different form having a capacity
of seven thousand fifty-six cubic
inches shall be a standard barrel.
The Hopkins act, in addition to
providing for a standard container
for fruits also provides standard
grades for apples that are to be pack
ed in the barrels or other enclosed
packages. Section / specifies first,
that Michigan Standard Fancy shall
consist of hand-picked, properly pack
ed apples of one variety, which are
well-grown specimens, normal in
shape, uniform in size, of good color
for the variety, and which are free
from dirt, insect injury, fungous dis
ease, bruises and other defects, ex-
cept such as are necessarily caused
in the operation of packing. Uniform
size shall be construed to mean that
apples contained in any one package
shall not vary in size more than one
half inch in diameter; second, 'Michi-
gan Standard A shall consist of
hand-picked, properly packed apples
of one variety, which are well-grown
specimens, normal in shape, of not
less than fifty percentum of good col
or for the variety, and which are
practically free from dirt, insect in
\ jury, fungous disease, bruises and
II other defects, except such as are nec-
essarily caused in the operation of
packing; third, Michigan Standard
b shall consist of hand-picked, pro-
perly packed apples of one variety,
which are well grown, and practically
free from insect injury and fungous
disease: Provided, the apples having
healed-over insect punctures, small
scab or blotch infections, fruit spots,
or other defects which, taken singly
or collectively, do not materially de-
form or discolor the fruit or injure its
keeping quality, shall be admitted to
this grade; fourth, Michigan Unclas-
| sified' shall consist of apples which do
not conform to the foregoing speci-
| fications of grade, or which though
conforming, are not branded in ac-
cordance herewith;
Section 2 states that in the inter-
probation of this act a tolerance of
six percentum below the standard
shall be allowed in the Standard
Fancy grade, ten percentum in the
Standard A grade, and fifteen per-
centum in the Standard B grade.
Such tolerances be computed by
counting or weighing the specimens
which are judged to be below the
standard for the grade in any respect
and those which are found to be small
er than the medium sized marked on
he package.
"The minimum size Of the fruit in
al grades according to Section 6,
shall be determined by taking the
transverse diameter of the smallest
ruit in the package. Minimum sizes
hall be stated in variations of one
luarter of an inch, as two inches,
svo and one-quarter inches, two and
Qe-half inches, two and three-quarter
inches, three inches, three and one
luarter inches, and so on, in accord