SHIPMENT OF OEANGES PEOM FLORIDA. 13 



HEAVY LOSSES FROM DECAY IN COMMERCIAL SHIPMENTS. 



The losses from decay during transit have been very heavy in the commercial ship- 

 ments of fruit, and the experimental work of the Bureau of Plant Industry was under- 

 taken in Florida in response to the many requests for advice and assistance which 

 came to the Department of Agriculture. It is difficult to estimate what the actual 

 loss from this cause has been during past seasons. Several reliable commission men 

 who handle large quantities of Florida oranges each year have stated that averaging 

 the good with the bad years probably 10 per cent of the fruit decayed before reaching 

 the consumer. Experimental shipments made under the direction of this bureau 

 indicate that the loss may have been fully as heavy as this. 



Since Florida's orange crop averages 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 boxes per year, the 

 decay of 8 or 10 per cent of this fruit entails an annual financial loss of at least half a 

 million dollars. Ten per cent of 4,000,000 boxes amounts to 400,000 boxes, on which 

 the picking and packing charges have been paid, with approximately $50,000 spent 

 for box material alone. The freight charges represent something like $200,000; and 

 these amounts, together with the commission charges, the value of the fruit discarded, 

 and the cost of repacking what is left, bring the total loss high enough to seriously 

 endanger the welfare of the industry. 



REPUTATION INJURED BY DECAY IN TRANSIT. 



Unfortunately, the financial injury is not confined to the fruit actually decayed. 

 It is impossible to estimate the loss which has resulted to the industry from the bad 

 reputation which Florida fruits have gained in the trade. While it is difficult to dis- 

 cover how far the low prices occasionally received have been due to this cause, many 

 fruit handlers in northern markets condemn very strongly the poor keeping quality 

 of the Florida orange and willingly admit their intention of using fruit of better 

 keeping quality if they can obtain such from other points. The situation of the 

 Florida orange grower would be critical indeed if it were not for the fact that fruit 

 handled carefully shows so much less decay than does fruit picked and packed under 

 careless commercial conditions. 



HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT WORK IN FLORIDA. 



Investigations by the Department of Agriculture, having in view the discovery of 

 the factors underlying the successful shipment of oranges from Florida to northern 

 markets, began during the season of 1907. The work, which was planned along lines 

 similar to those followed in the California investigations, included the determination 

 of the character and type of handling employed in the various operations of preparing 

 fruit for shipment and the discovery of the relationship between present methods 

 and the occurrence of decay. The object of the work of the department was to sug- 

 gest changes in the industry which should reduce the immense annual financial losses 

 of the Florida growers by enabling them to market their fruit in sound condition. 



The first researches in Florida were conducted by Mr. L. S. Tenny, who devoted 

 his attention to an inspection of the work done by various picking crews and individual 

 pickers, as well as to the character of work being done in the packing houses. It 

 required only a short time to indicate that what had previously been found to be the 

 case in California was also true in Florida, viz, that the fruit was receiving consider- 

 able injury in the course of its preparation for shipment. Conditions were, if any- 

 thing, somewhat more exaggerated, owing to the fact that the thin-skinned, juicy 

 Florida orange is of a more tender type and is more easily injured than the bulk of 

 the oranges grown in California. It is safe to say that the kind of handling which 

 would enable the California orange to go through the various picking and packing 

 operations without injury ia not safe for the Florida product. The importance of 

 avoiding dropping or puncturing by long stems is most urgent when dealing with 



