Ajjric 2, 'i 90S.] Agrlcultu7^al Gazette of N.S.W. 2^5 



Packing and Marketing Citrus and other Fruits. 



W. J. ALLEN. 



TnKKE are few, if any of us, who have arrived at the sta^^e of perfection either 

 in tlie care of our orchards or the picking and packin/j; of our fruits. We all 

 know, or should know, that a starved orcliard cannot pos>il>Ivl)(' a |)rofitable one ; 

 and yet there are growers who go on fr(jin year to year until the soil becomes so 

 impoverished that they are reluctantly compelled at last to admit that fruit- 

 growing under these conditions does not pay, and the treatment necessary to 

 l)ring the worn-out orchard into condition would be too expensive for them 

 to undertake. In the first place, why allow the laiul to become run down '^ 

 8ome will answer that their soil was always poor. Then why embark in 

 fruit-growing on such soil, unless the person doing so is competent to under- 

 take the ti'eatment of such soil ? We all know that the man who is heavily 

 handicapped at the beginning usually has an up-hill task to keep pace with 

 his mnre favoured neighbour who Las started on good, sound lines by \)\\v- 

 chasing good land and planting it with some of the best known commercial 

 varieties of fruits. He has also given the cultivation his most careful atten- 

 tion and the spraying of trees for pests, and has attended to the up-keep of 

 the land, with a clear understanding that it will not do to take everything 

 from the soil and give it nothing in return. The result with this class of grower 

 is that his trees produce crops of the quality of fr-uit which finds ready sale 

 on the markets at top prices, while his unfortunate neighbour has a difficulty 

 in finding a purchaser for his indifferent fruit, and has to accept about half 

 the price obtained by the careful grower, who has made a business of Icjoking 

 after his place, as before stated. 



The reader may ask what connection have the above remarks with the 

 picking and marketing ? Well, they have nothing beyond the fact that the 

 man who does not grow the best fruit cannot possibly market an}', and he 

 should not be disappointed if his agent does not get good prices for it, nor 

 has be any just cause of complaint if he finds that he is making only a bare 

 living from fruit-growing. 



In marketing fruit there are several important things which must receive 

 careful attention, viz. : — 



(1) In picking the fruit see that the work is carefully done, so as to avoid 

 bruising or damaging in any way. If it is citrus fruits that are being 

 jncked, proper clippers for the purpose should be used. With these the 

 stems can be cut off close to the fruit without the slightest risk of cutting 

 the latter, but where ordinary pruning shears are used there is always a risk 

 of cutting or puncturing the skin with the points of the blade. If fruit is 

 intended for ex^^ort it should be cut from the tree, and not pulled. 



