30 



BULLETIN 63, 17. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



the section- along the east coast fi'om Daytona and New Smyrna to Miami. They 

 represented a great variety of conditions and formed a fair average of the character 

 of the fruit in the State, as well as of the manner in which it was prepared for market 

 under commercial conditions. Some of the best as well as some of the poorest houses 

 were represented in these tests, and a number of houses which may be classed as 

 average were also included. 



Each, shipping series consisted of six boxes of oranges; two of these were carefully 

 picked, graded, and packed by the bureau workers; two were picked by regular pickers 

 but were carefully graded and packed ; and the last two were taken from the ordinary 

 commercial run of the houses from which the experimental shipments were made. 

 The shipments were divided into two parts. In one the grading, packing, and ship- 

 ping were made on the same day on which the fruit was picked, or as soon after- 

 wards as possible, and in the other the same fruit was held for three or four days-in 

 the packing house before packing and shipping. The former were designated as 

 "immediate'' and the latter as "delayed" shipments. All lots were sent out with 

 the regular carloads of fruit from the various packing houses, and the experimental 

 boxes were expressed to Washington from the northern markets to which the cars 

 were consigned. Each box was inspected on the day of arrival in Washington and the 

 percentage of decay accurately determined. The fruit was held for three weeks 

 under ordinary open-market conditions, and inspections were made at the end of 

 the first, second, and third weeks. The results obtained give a fair representation 

 of the average decay occun-ing in a co mm ercial pack and show the percentage of 

 loss which can be avoided by more careful handling. 



Plate XV illustrates the condition in which the three lots shipped from one packing 

 house using very little care arrived on the Washington market. The carefully picked, 

 graded, and packed fruit (on the left in the illustration) showed 4 per cent of decay on 

 arrival; the commercially picked but carefully gi-aded and packed fruit (ia the cen- 

 ter) showed 35.6 per cent of decay, and the commercially handled fruit (on the right) 

 had 65.9 per cent of decay. After intervals of one, two, and three weeks the three lots, 

 respectively, showed decay as follows: After one week, 4 per cent, 46 per cent, and 

 71.6 per cent; after two weeks, 11.5 per cent, 54 per cent, and 72.2 per cent; after three 

 weeks, 11.5 per cent, 57.1 per cent, and 72.2 per cent. 



Table XII and figure 13 show the average percentages of decay found in the ship- 

 ments during 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



Table XII. — Blue-mold decay in oranges carefully handled and commercially "handled, 

 on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks; average of all inspections, 

 1910-11 and 1911-12} 



Time of examination. 



Careful pick and 

 pack. 



Commercial pick 

 and careful pack. 



Commercial pick 

 and pack. 





1910-11 



1911-12 



1910-11 



1911-12 



1910-11 



1911-12 



On arrival 



Per cent. 

 0.6 

 1.1 

 1.6 

 1.9 



Per cent. 



0.6 



.9 



1.4 



2.2 



Per cent. 

 2.5 

 4.3 

 5.5 

 6.1 



Per cent. 

 1.4 

 2.2 

 3.5 

 5.5 



Per cent. 

 7.0 

 10.8 

 13.1 

 14.2 



Per cent. 

 4.0 



After 1 week 



6.8 



After 2 weeks 



10.4 



After 3 weeks 



14.2 







1 From 79 comparable shipments made in 1910-11 and 65 comparable shipments made in 1911-12. 



Table XIII and its accompanying diagram (fig. 14) summarize the results of the two 

 seasons' work and show the average of all experiments carried on during the two years. 

 In the illustration the results are marked as curves, using the percentages of decay 

 for the vertical lines and the times of arrival and of holding for the horizontal lines. 

 In this way the progress of the deterioration can readily be traced, and the influence 

 of the different systems of handling upon the occurrence of decay is strikingly 

 shown. 



