Milford chronicle., 1926-08-20
PENINSULA GROWERS
FIND IT PAYS TO
GRADE PRODUCE
CONTINUED from first page)

(cOnlnueQ from nEBt paSe)
growers two cents per cantaloupe
and further agreed to divide net pro-
fits derived from the sale of this
graded and packed product on a pro
rata basis at the end of the season.
The small group of growers who fol-
lowed the plan found the first sea-
son profitable. They received more
than double the price received by
their neighbors who shipped their
fruit direct from the field. The fol-
lowing season additional growers
Joined the first group as it was soon
realized that not only were higher
prices obtained but the demand Gre
ated by carefully graded and pack
ed product was a demand which
would hold from oneseason to an
other. Early in the second season
there was decided evidence of this,
in the large number of orders re-
ceived for the graded cantaloupes.
The plan attracted attention in one
or two sections where cucumbers
were grown and organizations of
growers in these districts establish
ed grading and packing plants, in
stalling machinery to grade and pol
ish this product. The results OBJ
tanned were substantial and encour-
aging. Other growers throughout
the section became interested. The
result today is the eight individual
grading and packing stations now in
operation.
Illustrations of what the grading
and packing associations are doing
is offered by this seasons experience
of the Rockawalkin Packing AssOci-
alton, about five miles from Sails
bury. This organization is composed
of 80 or 40 members, farmers in the
immediate neighborhood. With their
polishing and grading machines, and
by using special carriers so that
they may be filled from the bottom,
it is possible for a comparatively
small number of employees to pack
three carloads of cucumbers per
day.
From the outset the Rockawalkin
cucumbers we've favorably received
in the larger markets. They consist
emily brought better prices than
others shipped from the same sec
tion, which were not graded. AS il
lustration, toward the end of the
cucumber season in the New York
City market the ROckawalkin graded
cucumber on one occasion brought
$1.75 per hamper while ungraded
cucumbers in the same market, the
sane day, brought but 75c per ham
per. This may be an extreme illus
tration but at the same time there
are numerous other instances en-
phasizing the fact that throughout
the entire season graded cucumbers
brought from 40 to GO per cent more
than the ungraded product.
Another illustration is the under
taking of John T. Handy, of Girls
field, Md, who this season entered
on a material scale the grading and
packing of green tomatoes for an
early market. Mr.. Handy shipped
thousands of tomatoes, each wrap
ped individually in tissue paper and
packed in specially designed car
riers. This fruit brought prices in
the larger city markets far above
any similar fruit shipped from the
Del-Mar-Va Eastern Shore where
careful grading and packing were
not carried out. Mr.. Handy's toma-
toes were shipped to all sections of
the country, going as far south as
Florida. Care exercised in selecting
these tomatoes so that they would
ripen at period when placed before
the consumer, in addition to the
grading and packing, has resulted in
a demand for Mr.. Handy's product.
Individual brands are being used
by the several grading and packing
now in operation. 1t is
believed however that eventually a
movement will be launched to unite
the grading and packing associations
at least to the point of using one
main brand so that the standardized
product of the Del-Mar-Va Peninsula
may be instantly recognized.
Growers of sweet potatoes on the
Del-Mar-Va Peninsula are seriously
a grading system to be
put in operation this year, and sew
eral tomato canneries are now offer
ing a bonus for graded fruit, paying
about five cents more per basket for
the graded stock than for that not
graded.