THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



Basket gonerally used when plckinie oranges. 

 Holds aliout half a Ihix. 



work thoroughly, witlumt injury. It con- 

 sists of a large cylinder placed so that it 

 may be revolved in a vat of water. Inside 

 it is lined with burlap and provided with 

 a spiral of rubber hose to assist in moving 

 the fruit forward. The fruit is put into 

 the vat, fed with sponger into one end of 

 the revolving cylinder, comes out clean, and 

 is lifted from the vat at the opposite end. 

 It must then be spread out to dry. The fruit 

 should be washed immediately after picking 

 and before curing. 



PICKING. 



Time. The fruit should not be picked 

 until ripe. The skin is then well colored 

 and the juice sweet. The grape-fruit has 

 lost its bitterness and has acquired that 

 flavor which makes it the best breakfast 

 fruit known. Do not fyick 7i7n7r green. 

 There is no reason why Cuban growers 

 should do this. If they do it will prove 

 ruinous to the reputation of Cuban fruit. 

 Pick early oranges as scon as ripe ; mid- 

 season and late fruit may be gathered any time within a period of several weeks. 

 Bright, clear weather, free from fog, with a temperature of about 70 or 80 degrees, 

 is splendid. Do not expose the fruit to the sun after picking. Set it in the shade 

 or cover it. 



Pickers and Picking. Great care must be taken, for the skin of the orange is 

 full of moisture, almost brittle, and easily injured. A fall of a foot and a half, the 

 fruit dropping on a wooden floor, will bruise it. It will not do to pour it from 

 one basket or bo.\ to another, letting it fall from any distance. It will bruise. The 

 "bruise may not be visible at the time, but it will later, in the form of rotten spots 

 .and decayed fruit. 



Pic< the fruit by hand, clipping it from the tree with clippers. Cut the stem 

 ■close to the fruit, else the stubs of stems may stick into and injure other fruit in the 

 :baskets or boxes. See that the skin is not cut or injured by the shears. Five to 

 twenty per cent, of decay has been traced to this cause alone. 



From the tree to the basket, from the 

 basket to the field bo.x, then to the packing 

 house, always handle with the mc'st extreme 

 cr.re. 



CURIXG. 



The easiest way to cure the fruit is in 

 tlie field boxes. Stack them up, one on 

 top of the other, allowing for circulation 

 of air. Early in the season four or five days 

 will be about right for curing, later on this 

 may be shortened to a couple of days. In 

 curing, the moisture in the skin escapes, 

 leaving the skin thinner, tough, leathery and 

 pliable. If packed fresh from the trees, 

 without curing, tl"iis moisture wets the wrap- 

 ping paper and invites rot. In the process 

 of curing, slight injuries and bruises will show 

 up, making it easy to cull out injured fruit. 



GR.\DING. 



Grading is a matter of prime importance, 

 and the duller the season and the more 

 bountiful the crop, the greater the necessity 

 for rigid grading. A great deal of badly- 

 graded fruit finds its waj' into the market; 

 fruit well graded and packed brings a much 

 better price. Two groups must be made, 

 Brighfs and Rii.'isefs. Of the Brights, three 

 grades should be made — Fancy, No. i and 

 No. 2. Of fhe RusNf'ts. two srades are 

 enough— the third should go to the cull heap. 

 Fancy fruit should be bright, smooth, thin- 

 I'.ox packed with oranges— this is the regulation skinned, free from spec<s and injuries, fancy 

 box used by Florida shippers. in quality and appearailce. 



