WASHING 



293 



trade. Therefore the winter lemons are not treated in the 

 same manner as the summer lemons. Instead of sweating- 

 the fruit and hastening the curing the lemons are prevented 

 from sweating. As soon as the fruit is brought to the pack- 

 ing-house it is washed in a very weak solution of copper 

 sulphate. This solution is made by adding 1 pound of cop- 

 per sulphate to 1000 gallons of water In the morning and ^ 



Fig. 124. — Showing the method of washing oranges to remove the sooty 

 mould fungus. (Bulletin No. 123, United States Department of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Plant Industry.) 



pound at noon to keep the strength constant. The fruit 

 is washed in this manner for disinfection against the brown 

 rot. The lemons after being properly graded are placed 

 loosely in packing boxes and stacked up on the storage floor. 

 Lemons are often stored in this manner for six or seven 

 months. 



Washing. — In most of the citrus-growing regions the 

 fruit must be washed before it is shipped. If the fruit is 



