By far the greater part of the trouble packers have with their goods not complying with the government regulations as to molds, yeasts and spores, and bacteria is due to inadequate sorting. At least ninety per cent of this trouble could be overcome right at the sorting belt. Packers often say they can’t understand why the mold is running high on their pulp and catsup, as they are sorting their tomatoes carefully. However, the chances are ten to one the trouble is they are not sorting them carefully enough. One who has not had much experience managing help on the tomato sorting belt would imagine that almost any woman could step up there and sort out the good tomatoes from the bad, and know what to cut out, and what not to cut out. But such is not the case. The tomato sorters must be instructed. Someone who is competent to do so must work with each one of them and show them just what is a good tomato and what is not. Otherwise they will be spending part of their time cutting out black, fibrous growths on the surface of the tomatoes which are absolutely normal and entirely free from molds, etc., and allowing tomatoes to pass by them which have black spots on the surface no bigger than a dime, but indicating to the trained eye that probably half of the tomato is eaten up with black rot. They will allow a tomato to pass by which is cracked open, and the edge of the skin on each side of the crack will be as white as a piece of paper. Unless they are instructed, they may not realize that this is mold, and they certainly will not realize the amount of damage a small percentage of tomatoes like that can do. They know nothing about mold counts, but most women can be impressed with the importance of watching for moldy streaks and spots in mashed and split tomatoes, and the importance of eliminating every bit of tomato tissue that is so effected. Every sorting belt should have a boss—a competent sorter who knows his or her business, and who stands at the end of the belt and inspects the tomatoes just as they are about to leave the belt. This person can order the speed at which the tomatoes are fed to the sorters increased or decreased according to the quality, can see just what form of decay is predominating and caution the sorters to watch out for it, can see the mistakes that are being made in the sorting and try to correct them, and in addition can throw out into a receptacle such bad tomatoes as have passed by the sorters so that they can be sorted over again. It is not safe to put a bunch of women on the sorting belt with no one in authority who is on that particular job every minute, and expect an entire day’s run to come within the government limits. Forms of Decay