Thanks, that's much clearer than the article.

(The article talked about how people always craved the maple flavor, and were concerned about milder plain-sugar substitutes, as its lead-in to the 'truth in labeling'/authenticity-crusade era. That seemed to suggest tht even in 1906, an opposite grading emphasizing 'mapleness' could have taken root. Perhaps the regulators simply made the mistake of using the word 'grade' – implying a quality rank – when really their assessment was only of categories without any inherent preference ordering.)