132 FLORIDA FRUITS ORANGES. 



A plump orange, in good order, as when picked from 

 the tree, may be laid away in a dry, well-ventilated place, 

 and will keep good for months, in perfect condition, its skin 

 finally shriveling and hardening, yet the fruit remaining 

 juicy and sweet; but place alongside of it one that has 

 passed through the sweating process, and very soon it will 

 soften and become a decomposed mass of pulp. We have 

 tried both processes and "know whereof we speak," as do 

 hundreds of others. In the light of this new process of 

 curing oranges the old method of " sweating" will quickly 

 become obsolete, and when all our growers awake to this 

 truth, and also to the fact that our golden fruit can be 

 kept for months in perfect order for shipment, if only 

 proper care is taken in gathering and handling, so that no 

 bruise shall start decay before the the aqueous fluids have 

 evaporated, when they awake to these things then will 

 thousands of dollars be saved to them annually. 



Impress on all who are employed in gathering the fruit 

 that now, when it is plump and full of moisture, the least 

 fall or blow will be the signal of decay. An orange will 

 bear five times as hard usage after drying as when fresh 

 from the tree. 



The operations of sorting and packing are, as we have 

 intimated elsewhere, of so vital an importance to the 

 grower, as affecting his profit or loss on his entire crop, that 

 if he is unable to perform them with his own hands, he 

 should at least attend to them personally, and keep his 

 eyes wide open. 



Oranges of one kind and one size should go in one box ; 

 not all sizes mixed together, as we have often seen. 



After being assorted, not only with regard to size, but 

 also as to bright or rusty or half rusty, each orange should 

 be wrapped in a square of the manilla paper that comes 

 prepared for the purpose, already cut, in graded sizes for 



