GATHERING, PACKING, AND SHIPPING. 139 



fruit, and offers for the whole a price based upon 

 this inferior sample. So far as the producer is con- 

 cerned the fruit is sacrificed, and especially if the 

 market be full. The grower should never put him- 

 self at the mercy of such men, for even the tender 

 mercies of such men are cruel. If the grower will 

 so gather, assort, and pack his fruit that it will 

 keep for weeks or for months, as may be done, he 

 need not be driven to such sacrifices. 



As the fruit of a grove begins to ripen, let the 

 gardener pass through, and, taking tree by tree, take 

 from it all fruit that shows such defects as will lead 

 him to conclude that it will never come to perfec- 

 tion. Let him gather all specked fruit. This can 

 be done week after week, always selecting the ripest 

 of such fruit. As such is the first to ripen there is 

 always a market for it, and, rightly managed, at a 

 paying price. If such fruit is allowed to remain 

 on the tree it will get no better, and its presence 

 will damage the fruit which should remain longer 

 on the tree. Before the better oranges begin to 

 ripen the gardener should be well acquainted with 

 the quality of the fruit of each tree, so that he can 

 classify them according to quality of flavor, from the 

 acid to the sweet, from the dry to the juicy, and 

 various varieties. In gathering, cut the stem close 

 to the orange, handle in boxes containing not more 

 than 75 or 100, which boxes place on shelves in the 

 packing-house until the surplus moisture has escaped 

 from the rind, leaving it tough and pliable. This 



