648 THE LEMON. 



often ruptures the skin and causes decay, but clipped closely 

 with a shears made for the purpose, and deposited carefully 

 in sacks, or baskets lined with cloth. Rough handling is a 

 fertile cause of loss, and bruises and abrasions must be strictly 

 guarded against. After being removed to the packing-house, 

 they are left in the boxes or spread out in bins to lie for several 

 days, which causes the skins to dry and soften a little. This 

 facilitates handling and allows defects to develop. It is then 

 assorted into different grades, according to color and appear- 

 ance, and the sizes separated by running through a sizing- 

 machine. Dusty or smutty fruit is first cleaned by washing 

 or scrubbing, and afterward dried. 



It is finally wrapped in tissue-paper, and each size and grade 

 packed separately in boxes divided by a partition in the 

 middle, and holding two cubic feet, which have been adopted 

 as a standard. It must be crowded in snugly, with the top 

 layer a little above the edges of the box, so that when the 

 cover is pressed down and nailed, there will be no shaking or 

 moving about of the contents. Then the package is made 

 secure by a wooden strap around the middle and each end. 

 Iron straps have been tried, but dealers prefer the wooden. 

 On the ends are stencilled the grade, number in box, address 

 of consignee and shipper, and route by which to travel. 



In large establishments washing, sizing, and wrapping have 

 been done by steam or other power, but nothing to supersede 

 hand-work in grading and packing has yet been devised. A 

 box contains 96, 126, 150, 176, 200, 216, 226, and 252, according 

 to size, and there is an established method of arranging every 

 layer so as exactly to fill the boxes. The most popular sizes 

 of oranges are 176 and 200, and of lemons 300 to 400. Larger 

 or smaller fruit than these, or that which is rough or rusty, 

 brings a lower price, and overgrown lemons are almost un- 

 salable. Fruit of high color and an exterior without spot or 

 blemish is marked " Fancy," and sells much above the rest. 



Until within a few years imported lemons have sold higher 

 than our own, not from any inherent superiority, but on ac- 

 count of being gathered at the right stage and put up in a 

 neater manner. Lately domestic lemons of the best quality 

 have been produced, and packed in a style fully equalling and 

 even surpassing those imported, and at no distant day our 



