382 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



over, and there is no limit to the men that can be worked without the drawback 

 of repetition. 



I;rom the sorters the fruit goes to the usual sizers, over a complete set of 

 automatic weighers. All grades and culls are weighed and recorded on the 

 grower's load check, and the fruit has lost its individuality, being mixed by 

 grades, and handled and sold only under those grades and the brands corre- 

 spond to them. 



In all this travel the fruit has been guarded from the least bump. No long 

 steep inclines are used which would set the fruit in motion that would require 

 stopping, but is carried through almost every stage of the proceeding on belts. 



Under the sizers are located the empty packing boxes, fed in from the base- 

 ment by conveyors and always handy to the packers. The full boxes are carried 

 from the packers by power-conveyor to the nailing presses, where the covers 

 are put on the box strapped with steel ready for shipment. 



Fruit that is to be pre-cooled then goes by gravity conveyor to the refriger- 

 ator-rooms in the basement, where they are kept for three or four days in a 

 cold blast until the temperature of the fruit is lowered to 35 degrees Fahren- 

 heit, when it is loaded into the cars by means of a power conveyor. 



This packing house is actuated by one of the latest models of crude- 

 oil engines, of 90 horsepower, and costing for fuel about ten cents per 

 hour. This power is used to operate a 25-ton refrigerating machine, 

 two large fans for air circulation, all the conveyors, and an ice hoist 

 an estimated load of 85 horsepower. The establishment cost over 

 $65,000, and is evidence that the citrus-fruit industry has passed from 

 temporary expedient to permanence, just as the handling of fruit has 

 passed from slipshod methods to a system characterized by the utmost 

 care and forethought. 



