4 BULLETIN 399^ U. S. DEPA^ITMENT OP AGEICULTURE. 



MATERIAL AVAILABLE FOE T^^E ^RQDUCTION OF ORANGE OIL. 



In the commercial production of oranges there is always a greater 

 or less quantity of waste fruit. Oranges which are defective in 

 shape or which show even slight blemishes on the skin are rejected 

 and thrown out on the cuU heap (fig. 1). The quantity thus rejected 

 varies according to the season, to the variety of fruit, and to the 

 care which is given to the production of the crop, but even under 

 the most favorable conditions it is considerable. With the increas- 

 ing tendency to grade the fruit more closely and to better the market 

 conditions, the proportion of culls will doubtless increase rather than 

 decrease. 



A considerable loss results also from the dropping of the fruit in 

 the groves throughout the winter months. Certain varieties show 



Fig. 1.— Piles of cull oranges in a grove. ' 



s 



this tendency regularly, although all varieties have a tendency to 

 drop the fruit when held for market advances under unfavorable 

 climatic conditions. 



In addition to these sources of available material it is possible to 

 obtain a quantity of low-grade fruit. At present this low-grade 

 fruit, packed in so-called ''plain wraps," is sometimes shipped to 

 near-by markets for immediate consumption. The returns are ex- 

 ceedingly small, especially in years when the crop is abundant. It is 

 believed, however, that with greater attention to marketing condi- 

 tions this inferior fruit can be more profitably utilized in the manu- 

 facture of by-products and thus open a wider field for the better 

 grades. At the present time there is without doubt enough low- 

 grade fruit available to make possible the extraction of a quantity of 

 orange oil suflScient to supply a considerable portion of the domestic 

 demand. 



