JAMAICA. 



BXJLTjBTIISr 



OF THE 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. II. APRIL, 1904. Part 4. 



NOTES ON THE HANDLING AND PACKING 



OF FRUIT. 



By R. L, Young. 



Citrus Fruit. 



In the cultivation of fruit the first thing to learn is care in handling 

 of the produce, a-id one of the greatest difficulties is to supervise the 

 labourers, and see that they exercise proper care in gathering the 

 crops. 



Let m(^ commence by stating that most of my experience in hand- 

 ling fruit of all kinds, more especi:^lly of citrus fruit, has been in culti- 

 vated groves; a^ I have never had any satisfactory results in handling 

 our wild citrus fruit, owing to the inability to control the laboureis, 

 whilst scattered all over the pastur s In a cultivated grove the trees 

 are followed row by row, one person w th clipping shears with round 

 points, meant for that purpose, whilst a child fo lows with a padded 

 basket to receive the fruit. Any fruits slipping from the hand or 

 touching the ground ever so lightly :ire rejected. The fruits are not 

 taken from the trees in one picking, the thoroughly ripe ones are se- 

 lected first; preference being given to those t at are clean, bright- 

 coloured, well shape i, firm, smooth orange-", as most likely to com- 

 mand good prices, at the s me time by this method the trees are 

 lightened up, and assisted to bring on the later fruit. Another ad- 

 vantage of our cultivated over t^ie wild fruits, is that they can be 

 stem-cut right away from the trees, thereby avoiding the very common 

 danger of tearing the skin, when the gatherers have to climb the trees 

 to pull them. The fruit should be picked at least three or four days, 

 and spread out in the packing house, before attempting to pack them, 

 allowing the rind to shrink and lose its surplus moisture. If packed 

 imrnediately after picking they will sweat in the boxes, even at an 

 ordinary temperature, and the contents of the box become damp, and 

 are in danger of rot and decay. Another advantage gained by allow- 

 ing the fruits to shrink, is that the skin becomes more pliable and 

 yielding, and the fruits are better able to stand the pressure of pack- 



