130 FLORIDA FRUITS ORANGES. 



If the oranges are of different varieties each kind should 

 be carefully kept by itself. 



As soon as a cart load has been picked they should be 

 hauled away to the packing-house ; and if this is any dis- 

 tance from the grove, or if the road, though short, is 

 rough, moss should be placed at the top and sides of the 

 cart to avoid bruising the fruit, for the orange, when just 

 " under ripe," as it usually is and should be when picked, 

 is plump and solid ; the skin is composed largely of water, 

 and if its tiny cells are bruised and broken, decay at once 

 sets in. 



Every shipper should, have a house or room set apart 

 for curing and packing the fruit. There are two methods 

 of preparing it for shipment, of which the old method, 

 which is termed "sweating," would seem the very worst 

 treatment to which it could be subjected, and we believe 

 it to be so, and to have caused the loss of thousands of 

 dollars to Florida orange growers. 



As we have said, the skin of the newly plucked orange 

 contains a great deal of water, and before packing it for 

 shipment we want to get rid of this surplus element of de- 

 cay. In order to accomplish this desirable result it used 

 to be the universal custom, and one that is still too much 

 in vogue, to put the oranges in a large heap and cover 

 them with blankets, leaving them thus for several days, 

 until they had undergone a sweat, a number being rotted 

 and crushed by the process, and the inevitable germs of 

 decay generated in many others. Those that appear sound 

 after this ordeal are spread out for a day to dry, and then 

 shipped, almost invariably to be reported, "arrived in bad 

 condition." 



Who can wonder ? They have been coaxed and encour- 

 aged to decay before their journey was commenced, by 

 having their tender skins heated, steeped in moisture, and 

 their cells crushed by pressure. 



