Milford chronicle., 1931-04-10
GAMERS MAY BUY
GRADE TOMATOES
tCOntinurd from First PeOeI

were unfair both to the grower ant
to the canner. The grower had NJ
incentive to deliver extra good quail
ity to the cannery, because of tht
fact that the Gamer paid him nc
premium for quality of this kind
All tomatoes were bought at GER
tain price per basket or per ton, and
the only incentive, in so far as
quality was concerned, was to put
them up good enough to pass the
inspector at the cannery.
A few weeks ago, at the request
of several Gamers in the State, Sen
ator o. A. Newton, president of the
State Board of Agriculture, and Mr..
w. 7. DericksOn, Director of the
Bureau of Markets, arranged for a
representative of the U. s. Depart
ment of Agriculture to come to Del
aware and meet with the Gamers
who proposed to purchase on a
graded basis this year. The purpose
of this meeting was to secure as
much information as possible re-
gaTding the value of this work in
other States both to the growers and
to the Gamers and to secure as
much detailed information as pos
sible regarding the actual working
ont of the plan. During the past
week, several meetings of tomato
growers have been held and the plan
of buying and selling tomatoes on
the basis of grades has been thor
Oughly discussed. Mr.. Shook, who
is Secretary of the Tri-State Can
ners Association, attended these
meetings and presented figures COW
ering the experiences of growers in
other States, which showed that the
growers by selling on a graded basis
secured a premium over the former
fiat prices, and presented q COM
plete picture of how the plan is
worked. During the coming season
every Gamer in the State of Ohio
will purchase tomatoes on the basis
of grades. Practically all of the
Gamers in Indiana, Colorado, and
Utah will buy on grades, also a con-
siderable number of Gamers in New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mary
land, and New Jersey will operate
on this basis. Mr.. w. Y. Derickson,
Director, Bureau of Markets, of the
State Board of Agriculture, also at |
tended these meetings and explain !
ed. that the grading Of tomatoes is
almost entirely question of color /
Of course, decay is not accepted and |
size requirements are agreed upon !
by the individual Gamer and pro-
dhcer; however, the principal ques-
ton is color. A red, ripe tomato is
necessary in order that the canned /
product will have the beautiful, rich,
red color, which is so necessary. We
know that Delaware can produce to-
matoes. of the very highest quality
and under normal growing cOndi-
tions, it is believed that the only
thing necessary In order to secure
the very highest quality will be for
the Delaware growers to let their
tomatoes stay on the vines until this
rich, red color is obtained.
The actual inspection of tomatoes
will be made on this basis. The in
spector will be supplied to the can
merry by the Bureau of Markets, of
the State Board of Agriculture, and
VIII. be q man who is trained and
licensed by the Federal Government
for this work. He will be absolute
~ disinteTested and will make. care
FIJI and accurate inspection of SAM
MES from each load of tomatoes that
is delivered to the canneries. Usu-
ally the inspector takes a sample of
three baskets or approximately 100
pounds of tomatoes from each load.
These tomatoes are poured on a
table and are divided by the inspee-
tor into three grades, u. s. No. /,
Y, S. No. 2, and Culls. The quantity
OF each grade is then weighed and
the percentage of each quality def
httely determined The Gamer will
then pay for these tomatoes accord !
ing to the quantity of each grade.
The Gamers who are going into this ,
plan are generally considering for
this year price of $500 per ton
for U. S. No. Is, $500 per ton for
Y. 5. No. 2'S, and nothing. for culls.
On this basis this means l5c per ,
basket for U. S. No. 2s and SOC per
basket for U. S. No. rs. The present
market conditions on tomatoes are 9
responsible for the lower prices this
season. The carry-over of tomatoes :
and tomato products is heavier at
his time than it has been for sew
eral years and the price is corre- +
ipOndingly low. .
e The United States Government, as /
authorized by Congress, is promul- 3
eating grades for all canned pro-
tucts and for the projection of the :
canned goods of all COM T.
nodities below the standard set by c
he Government must be plainly la I
Jeled as follows: BELOW U. s. r
STANDARD LOW QUALITY BUT
NOT ILLEGAL" This statement :
must be printed on the label of each 9
an and'mus be enclosed in large
back border so as to be made con- f
picuOus. Ali products above the "
standard grade set by the Govern e
nent will not be marked in any
yay, but this labelling will prevent II
ne housewife from purchasing any O
of canned goods of low Ii
uality without full knowledge as to S
he quality contained. Especially in n
lew OF this condition, it is impera- q
i've that tomato growers in the East is
aake every effort to produce as high d
uality as possible for it is evident
hat the market will be flooded with Fl
OW quality products and the price n
n the products of low quality will a
% low, whereas, the higher quail Vi
les will command a premium.
The question of grading of any tC