PURPOSE: To miniaturize a sorting apparatus as a whole by extracting and sorting small bulb vegetables by a small size sorting mechanism and further sorting smaller bulb vegetables by a brush transfer mechanism and transferring small bulb vegetables sorted into two grades in opposite directions.

CONSTITUTION: Bulb vegetables such as a potato supplied to a supply conveyor mechanism are introduced into a soil removing mechanism at first to receive the rotatory power of the brush 21 on a rotating shaft 20 to remove the soil bonded to the vegetables during transfer and supplied to the small size sorting belt 23 of a small size sorting mechanism. Small bulb vegetables are allowed to fall from the falling holes 28 provided to the small size sorting belt 23 to be sorted from standard bulb vegetables and supplied to a brush transfer mechanism 24. Further small bulb vegetables fall from the gap between transfer brushes 30, 30 during the transfer due to the brush transfer mechanism to be recovered on a small size transfer belt 33 whose transfer direction is reverse to that of the brush transfer mechanism 24 and are discharged to a corrugated cardboard box.