6 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGEICULTUBE. 



Plate II, figure 2 shows that the effort to make a field box strong enough to withstand 

 "bucking" is not always successful. TMiile it is difficult to estimate the amount of 

 damage which may result from the use of such boxes, it is apparent that this is very 

 great. 



An enumeration of some of the injuries received in picking will be found under 

 the discussion of the causes of blue-mold decay. 



HAULING THE FRUIT. 



The fruit is hauled from the grove to the packing house on ordinary farm wagons, 

 which are often springless, or on specially proAdded wagons belonging to an association. 

 The owner of the gi"ove or the manager of the packing house sometimes personally 

 superintends this transfer, but frequently it is done by contract with the owner of a 

 livery stable. There is usually a fixed price for this service, one large contractor 

 ^ecei^•ing 2 cents per box per mile, which is about the average of what is paid in differ- 

 ent parts of the State. The drivers are often ignorant of the importance of careful 

 handling, and their methods of loading and unloading are extremely crude and rough. 

 It is not uncommon to see them sitting on boxes of fruit as they ride to the packing 

 house. The haul may be long and OA-er rough roads (PI. Ill, fig. 1), some packing 

 houses handling many boxes of fruit from groves 12 or 15 miles distant, or even farther. 

 Ox teams ai-e often used for such long hauls (PI. Ill, fig. 2). It has even been the 

 custom, in the past, to carry many oranges loose in the wagon box, the unloading 

 being done with shovels or in other rough ways (PI. IV, fig. 1). This practice has 

 been done away with, however, as it is recognized that good results can never be 

 obtained by such careless methods. Along with the numerous improvements which 

 have been effected during the past two or three years in the manner of hauling fruit 

 from the grove to the packing house, must be reckoned the State-wide movement for 

 better roads. 



PREPABING THE FRUIT FOR SHIPMENT. 



Buildings and machinery . — Packing houses ai-e usually located in villages and towns 

 along the raihoad lines or in places accessible to water transportation. Many boxes 

 of fruit, however, are packed either openly in the gi-oves or in houses located near the 

 farm buildings and are then hauled to a shipping point. Little attempt was made 

 until recently to build houses e.specially designed for packing citrus fruit. The aver- 

 age building usually had a capacity for handling not more than one car a day, very 

 little machinery being used in the old houses and the boxes being made by hand, 

 frequently in some place outside the packing house. This building generally con- 

 sisted of but one room, the sizing machine being located in the center, a little below 

 the main portion of the house, in what is called the "pit." One common soiu-ce of 

 trouble, even in the new-style houses, is the attempt to save floor space. The machin- 

 ery may be so adjusted tlsat the orange has to follow a long and complicated path, 

 around abrupt angles, down graA-ity runs, and up unnecessary elevators, whereas 

 in a majority of cases the same end could have been attained at less expense by means 

 of a more simple aiTangement. Simplicity should be the watchword in the adjustment 

 of all packing-house equipment. Some houses haA-e gone to the other extreme of 

 doing practically all the work by hand, thus eliminating the expense of carrying belts 

 and other automatic dcA-ices. The character of the workmen is then of fundamental 

 importance, and it is doubtful whether, in the long run, hand work can be accomplished 

 with as Little injury as results from the use of properly adjusted, simple machinery. 



Fruit which was clean and did not require washing Avas formerly poured into a hop- 

 per and rolled by graAdty in front of the grader to the sizing machine. The latter 

 was sometimes run by poAver, but more often it was treadled by the man who did the 

 grading. As the oranges were sized they fell into different bins and from these were- 



