SHIPMENT OP ORANGES FEOM FLOEIDA. 



45 



Table XXII and figure 26 show the average percentages of decay found in fruits 

 shipped during December, January, and February, 1910-11 and 1911-12, on arrival 

 at Washington and after holding for three weeks under ordinary market conditions. 



Table XXII. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding 

 for three weeks; average of the two seasons, by months, in 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



Time of examination. 



On arrival: 



December . 



January . . . 



February.. 

 After 1 week: 



December. 



January . . . 



February.. 



Careful 



pick and 



pack. 



Per cent. 



1.8 



.6 



.3 



2.5 

 1.0 



.7 



Commer- 

 cial pick 

 and pack. 



Per cent. 

 11.6 

 5.4 

 3.9 



15.7 

 9.1 

 7.3 



Time of examination. 



After 2 -weeks: 



December. 



January . . . 



February .. 

 After 3 weeks: 



December . 



January. .. 



February .. 



Careful 



pick and 



pack. 



Per cent. 

 3.2 

 1.5 

 1.2 



3.6 

 2.1 



1.8 



Commer- 

 cial pick 

 and pack. 



Per cent . 

 17.8 

 12.8 

 10.5 



19.7 

 14.6 

 13.8 



The commercially handled fruit, picked and shipped during December, showed 

 the highest average percentage of decay on arrival (11.6 per cent), and the increase 

 after three weeks was correspondingly higher than was the case for fruit picked 

 and shipped during January 

 and February. Commer- 

 cially handled fruit, picked 

 and shipped during Janu- 

 ary, arrived with 5.4 per 

 cent of decay, and that 

 sent out during February 

 showed 3.9 per cent on ar- 

 rival. The , shipments of 

 carefully handled fruit ar- 

 rived with an average of 1.8 

 per cent during December, 

 0.6 per cent during January, 

 and 0.3 per cent during 

 February, and after holding 

 for three weeks showed 3.6 

 per cent, 2.1 per cent, and 

 1.8 per cent of decay, re- 

 spectively. All of the care- 

 fully handled fruit, even 

 that shipped dm-ing De- 

 cember, showed much less 

 decay after three weeks in 

 market than the commer- 

 cial shipments during Feb- 

 ruary showed on arrival. 



The superior shipping and _, ,^ ^ 



1 + V, 1^^ ^ -^„„iui^c ^f Fig. 26.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay in 



market-holding qualities of ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ commercially handled oranges picked during 



carefully handled fruit are December, January, and February; average of the two seasons, 



evident. 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



PRECOOLING. 



The term "precooling" has been used to designate the prompt and rapid cooling 

 of fruit prior to shipment. The initial cooling of the product is accomplished very 

 slowly when the fruit is shipped under ordinary icing conditions, the ice of a refrige- 

 rator car not being able to cool the fruit with suflacient promptness and rapidity to 



