6 



BULLETIN 645, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table 2. — Percentages of various grades of oranges and grapefruit shipped 

 from Florida to Neio York City and other markets during the season of 

 1915-16. 





Oranges. 



Grapefruit. 



Market. 



First 

 grade. 



Second 

 grade. 



Third 

 grade. 



Total 

 boxes. 



First 

 grade. 



Second' Third 

 grade. 1 grade. 



Total 

 boxes. 





35. 56 

 8.30 



44.33 



20.10 



868,541 



34.43 

 8.85 



45.61 

 36.2 



20.00 

 54.9 



272, 621 





47.13 



5. 096. SI 7 



1, 544, 929 











Totals and ■weighted per- 

 centages 



12.39 



44.53 



43.08 5,965,358 



12.67 



37.62 



49.69 



1,817,550 



Taking into consideration all sources of information regarding 

 oranges and grapefruit shipped out of Florida, the conclusion is 

 reached that for the purpose of this bulletin the percentages of fruit 

 in the first, second, and third grades approximate 13, 41, and 46, 

 respectively. 



RAISING THE GRADE OF FRUIT BY SPRAYING. 



Since by no means all Florida fruit is graded so well as that 

 shipped to Xew York, the problem of raising the standard is an im- 

 portant one. Is it worth while? "Will it pay? From the results of 

 work in Florida it may be asserted confidently that it is worth while 

 and that it will pay in a very large number of Florida groves. Table 

 3 gives the percentages of the grades of fruit shipped from the same 

 grove during 1914, 1915, 1916 and during 1917, up to January 15. 

 In 1914 the small amount of spraying done came too late to prevent 

 blemishes caused by rust mites. In 1915 and 1917 the spraying was 

 done at the proper time, but in 1916 the application was made a little 

 too late to produce the best results. The data resulting from this 

 experimental work are so striking that comment is unnecessary. 



Table 3. — Result of spraying upon the percentages of grapefruit in the various 



grades. 





Year and treatment. 





1914 



1915 



1916 



1917 





Not Well 

 sprayed, sprayed. 



Sprayed 

 too late 

 for best 

 results. 



Well 

 sprayed. 



First 



2.7 

 15.8 

 50.0 

 31.5 



34.3 

 51.5 

 10.2 

 3.7 



15.8 

 51.6 

 17.3 

 15.3 



33.7 





46.3 



Third 



14.2 



Fourth. 



5.9 











In a second grapefruit grove during the season of 1913-14, when 

 no spraying was done, the percentages of fruit in the four grades 

 ran 0, 13.8, 65.5, and 20.8, respectively. During the season of 1914-15 



