J. W. Hutchinson Family History

J. W. Hutchinson Family History
Morristown & Berwick
Images courtesy of Doris MacArthur

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Mill in Morristown
owned by J.W. & W.A. Hutchinson prior to 1895
Men of local "Apple Industry"
J.W. Hutchinson
Jeremiah Wade and Ida Hutchinson

Mill Berwick
J.W. Hutchinson
Residence Berwick
Evangeline Apple Grader

The following information is from the publication,
"Gingerbread & House Finish of Every Description",
by Barbara R. Robertson.

Various extracts from the Register (newspaper) involving the Hutchinson Family.


July 20th, 1927 issue of The Register, Evangeline Apple Grader, made in Berwick

Above is presented an illustration of the latest improved Evangeline Apple Grader, designed and manufactured by J. W. Hutchinson of Berwick, which has proved its usefulness and superiority in a score of the leading fruit warehouses throughout the Annapolis Valley.

The Evangeline grader is constructed for grading all sizes of apples, from culls to large size No. one, and is specially suited for grading for box pack. It has a capacity for handling from 250 to 300 barrels of apples per day, depending of course on the quality of fruit. A machine of double capacity, specially constructed for the Berwick Fruit Company's large warehouse, has a capacity of about 500 barrels per day.

The grader is operated by a one-half h.p. electric motor. The apples are fed into the machine from a bin, of three barrel capacity, by means of an elevator operated by an endless belt. Another endless belt carries them through an alleyway from whence they pass beneath rollers specially gauged for eliminating the various sizes, each size or grade passing into a separate compartment onto a spacious sorting table, where they are sorted and picked over by the operators.

Hoppers are placed at intervals along the table, into which are deposited the culls. These drop through onto an endless belt and as they are carried forward to the receptacles that await them, are separated automatically into paring and older grades.

The grader occupies a floor space of 27 x 8 ft., and is a striking example of what can be accomplished by careful study and experiment in an effort to solve the problem of apple grading on an extensive scale. The framework, and in fact every part of the machine, with the exception of motor was made by Mr. Hutchinson in his well-equipped woodworking establishment. Some of the graders, of earlier construction, have been in operation for three or four years and have given perfect satisfaction in every instance.

The machine above illustrated, on display, in the Pleasant Valley fruit Company's warehouse, has been sold to the Commonwealth Fruit Company, Weston, and another, for fall delivery, has been ordered by the British Canadian Fruit Association, Kentville.

Mr. Hutchinson is to be congratulated on his ability and success in inventing, manufacturing and perfecting a grader of this type which has given such splendid satisfaction. Indeed the consensus of opinion of all connected with the fruit industry of the Annapolis Valley, who have seen it in operation, is what the "Evangeline" grader has all makes of imported apple graders entirely outclassed, not only in first cost but in economy of operation and capacity of output.

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