52 



THE AGRICULTURMi NEWS. 



February 17, 1912. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



CITRUS FRUIT HANDLING AND SHIPPING 

 IN FLORIDA. 



The investigations of citrus fruit handling and shipping 

 in Florida were continued during the season 1910-11 on 

 a broader and more comprehensive scale than has been possi- 

 ble in previous years. The lines of work included: (1) a com- 

 parison of fruit picked and handled carefully with ordinary 

 picking and handling, and a comprehensive study of the effect 

 of washing; (2) shipping experiments with carefully picked 

 and packed fruit, and fruit picked and packed in the ordinary 

 commercial w.iy, part of each lot being packed and shipped as 

 soon as practicable after picking, and part being delayed 

 several days before packing and shipping: (3) inspection of 

 oranges in the fields and packing houses for the determination 

 of mechanically injured fruit and fruit with long stems, with 

 demonstrations of the eii'ect of such injuries on the keeping 

 qualities of the fruit; (4) a determination of the percentages 

 of ' stem-end" decay in oranges shipped to Washington, and 

 the study of the occurrence of the stem-end rot under different 

 conditions, including shipping experiments with fruit from 

 sprayed and nonsprayed sections of experimental groves. 



The washing experiments, which were carried on in 

 thirty-two packing houses, using thirteen diilerent types of 

 washing machines, showed that an appreciable increase in the 

 decay was due to the washing treatment. The increase in the 

 decay was greater in fruit which had received ordinary com- 

 mercial handling than in the same type of fruit carefully 

 picked and handled. The results indicate that, where washing 

 is carried on, a chance for injury followed by decay occurs, 

 but that where this method of cleaning is necessary to place 

 the fruit in presentable condition, the decay due to the neces- 

 sary extra handling may be held at a minimum by care in 

 handling the fruit in picking and grading, and in manipu- 

 lating the washing machines. 



Shipping experiments, including seventy-nine experi- 

 mental series shjpped from various points in Florida to 

 Washington, D.C, showed 0-6 per cent, of decay in all care- 

 fully picked and packed fruit, while the fruit from the same 

 groves, given ordinary commercial picking aad packing, devel- 

 oped 7 per cent, decay from blue mould. The effect of care 

 ful handling continued through a three-weeks' market 

 holding test, the 'carefully handled fruit after this length of 

 time showing less than 2 per cent, of decay, while the com- 

 mercially picked and packed showed more than 14 per cent. 



llesults of the stem-end rot investigation showed no appa 

 rent relation between handling and the occurrence of this 

 disease in transit or on the market Spraying experiments 

 and the use of different disinfectants in the water used in 

 washing the fruit yielded indeterminate results. 



The inspections to determine the amount of injury being 

 done in jiickiug and handling covered all the citrus districts 

 of Florida, and in this work nearly 70,000 oranges were 

 handled. A comparison of the work of the picking crews 

 where the labour was paid Ijy the day and by the box shows 

 that equal percentages of injuries were made by both, unless 

 the work is done under the supervision of a capable foreman. 

 In some instances the box-paid labourers were found to do a.s 

 well or better than those under the day paid plan, where no 

 attempt at supervision was made. 



The results of these lines of investigation corroborate in 

 every respect the earlier work of the bureau, both in Califor- 

 nia and in Florida, and show definitely the relation between 

 the type of handling given the fruit and the decay in transit 

 and after arrival in market. The Florida orange, when care- 

 fully handled, has been shown to have good carrying qualities, 

 and a notable improvement in the reduction of the losses from 

 decay has resulted from the bureau work. (Report of the 

 Chief qt the Bureau, of Plant Industri/, 1911; United States 

 Department jf Agriculture.) 



NEW MANGOES FOR THE WEST 



INDIES. 



The following has been rect-ived from Mr. J. Jones, 

 Curator of the Botanic Station, Dominica, with refer- 

 ence to a former article which ;ippe&red under this 

 title :— 



The Afivimltiiral Ni-ios oi June 10, 1911, p. 180, con- 

 tains a brief- 'Article on new mangoes for the West Indies. 

 In it the statement occurs that arrangements had been made 

 to ship from the Jtoyal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, to Domi- 

 nica, twelve grafted mango plants comprising the following 

 varieties: Alphonse, Langra, Kheershapottee and T.hadoorea. 



The plants were duly shipped to Dominica by way of 

 Kew Gardens, where the case was opened and the plants 

 examined. On their arrival at I "ominica, it was found that 

 seven out of the twelve plants had survived, and that all the 



