Ii8 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



in properly curing the fruit by toughening the skin 

 and drying up the watery particles ; second, it is 

 fatal to all parasites of the orange, whether vegeta- 

 ble or animal. I am satisfied that a very large per 

 cent of the speedy decay of the orange so fatal to 

 shippers is occasioned by the germs of fungi left 

 over from the former year in packing-houses, and 

 old boxes in which, rotten fruit was conveyed. 

 These germs lie dormant, waiting for a moist at- 

 mosphere favorable to their development ; they then 

 develop and multiply with wondrous rapidity, 

 showing their work in the form of mould on any 

 moist surface, but especially on fruit. Some years 

 ago I put into a basket that had held some decayed 

 lemons, on the sides of which basket at the time of 

 gathering I noticed a little mould, some very fine 

 Tangerine oranges. In two days' time half the fruit 

 was entirely worthless. The fruit that was left on 

 the tree, or that had been otherwise handled, was 

 entirely sound. This gave me a hint. It was a 

 very wet season ; most of our shippers w r ere losing 

 heavily. Commission merchants were constantly 

 reporting " Fruit arrived in bad order," " Did not 

 pay expenses. " I knew that sulphurous fumes 

 were fatal to fungoids. I commenced to gather 

 and ship in the midst of the damp season. I fumi- 

 gated every box of fruit, and though mould had ap- 

 peared on the fruit as it hung on the trees, I heard 

 no report of decayed fruit, but on the contrary had 



