'60 



THIRTY-FOURTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



the fruit through an injury of some kind i)rodiieed in handling the' 

 oranges in the groves and packing houses; that the decay is largely 

 preventable; that a sound orange shipped quickly after picking and 

 packing seldom develops decay; that the decay may be retarded tem- 

 porarily in injured oranges if they are refrigerated quickly after pick- 

 ing and i>acking in warm weather; and that the fruit that keeps the 

 best after it reaches the market is the fruit that is handled the most 

 carefully in California. 'The results of the investigation have been pul)- 

 lished each year in circulars. A more comprehensive treatment of the 

 subject has been issued recently in which a discussion is presented of 

 the work from 1904 to 1907. inclusive, and of its relation to the entire 

 citrus fruit induvstry. ("The Decay of Oranges while in transit from 

 California. "'Bulletin 123. Bureau of Plant Industry, V. S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture.) 



It is the purpose of this discussion to present some of the conditions 

 that have been observed in the handling of the orange crop while carry- 

 ing forward the experimental work of 1908. 



It appears to be (piite generally accepted by leading growers and 

 shippers that the decay of oranges can be prevented by handling the 

 Iruit witli enough care from the tree to the car to preserve the natural 

 resistance whicli the orange has when it is severed from the tree, and 

 by shipping the fruit quickly after picking and packing. It is probably 

 not overstating the facts in saying that the methods of handling the 

 orange in the field and packing house have been radically modified since 

 1904, with these ends in view. ^lore effective progress has been made 

 in this direction in 1908 than in the years preceding. " " 



THE CHANGES IN HANDLING THE ORANGE. 



The changes of 1908 that have had a far-reaching effect on the indus- 

 try have been (1) an effort to harvest the fruit by labor controlled by 

 associations, in order to avoid the uneven physical ^condition that for- 

 merly characterized the fruit when harvested by the growers; (2) the 

 more careful handling of the fruit by growers and shippers not belong- 

 ing to associations; (3) the substitution of day-paid labor under com- 

 petent supervision for box-paid labor, especially in the field; f4) the 

 construction and remodeling of packing houses with machinery that 

 handles the fruit carefully: (5) the cleaner condition of packing houses, 

 with special reference to decayed oranges: (6) the quick shipment of 

 fruit after picking and packing: and (7) the adoption of better methods 

 of grading and packing Irv a number of individual shippers and asso- 

 ciations. There has probably been less dec:^y in the oranges from 

 California in 1908 as a result of these changes than ever before, not- 

 withstanding the fact that many prominent shippers were convinced at 

 the beginning of the season that there would be excessive decay in the 

 shipments of 1908 on account of the advanced maturity of the fruit. 



EXAMPLES OF REFORMS. 



It has been shown in 1908 by a large number of associations and 

 shippers that it is practical to eliminate the decay from the commercial 

 shipments by better methods of handling the fruit, and to elevate a 

 section that has a<^quired the reputation of producing poor shipping 



