Figure 19.—Packing tomatoes on a farm in Connecticut. Boys in the background are wiping and sorting. The others are packing in half-bushel boxes. The top slats are put on before packing and the bottom is nailed on at the finish of the job. A board which is turned over with the box keeps tomatoes from falling out.
Grading
It is generally true that at market the poorest products in a given lot tend to fix the price. When the buyer finds a few inferior specimens he assumes there are many more. Imperfect and diseased specimens infect others. Grading enhances the appearance [of the pack].
Figure 20.—A California packing house with elaborate machinery and fully organized.
Of course, the grower who picks marketable tomatoes and leaves unmarketable fruits on the vine is engaged in a form of grading—informal and subconscious. Methods may range from this simple practice to the elaborate schemes adopted in large packing houses. There is no difficulty in adopting methods for the farm that are easily managed and perfectly practical. In general, two grades to sell represent a good plan, leaving culls at home unless prices are high and there is good demand for them. The set-up may involve no more than a worker at a table with three baskets—one with tomatoes from the field; another for #1's and a third for #2's. The worker may well use a cotton flannel glove or cloth to wipe the tomatoes and the fruits should be placed in layers to bring the package to a good face. With some practice, this slows the operation but very little. Shed packing should be more common than it is though the practice seems to be gaining.
Shippers scattered from Cuba and California to New York state have packing houses set up to all degrees of elaborateness. Some have machines and conveyors that wash, sort for size, provide for hand sorting for grade and deliver to bins for packing. Experienced packers advance with the season from Florida to Lake Erie. These workers become almost incredibly expert and speedy. It is not uncommon for a worker to pick up, wrap and place in the lug box 60 or 70 tomatoes per minute—not as a show-off but in course [of regular work].
Figure 21.—Puffiness is a common defect in tomatoes, especially when grown in the winter in the South.