ITS CULTUEE IN CALIFORNIA. 



71 



some accident, such as the pricking of a 

 thorn or a violent shaking by the wind or 

 other disturbing element. 



A Year on the Tree. — It is not an 

 unusual thing to find oranges hanging 

 upon the tree a full year after maturity 

 and when the next succeeding crop is 

 ripe. Such old fruit, although in out- 

 ward appearance as sound and handsome 

 as ever, is found when picked to be soft, 

 and when opened, to contain only a juice- 

 less pith. 



Oranges Should Not Be Left Too 

 Long. — It is a bad plan to leave oranges 

 unpicked later than March and April, at 

 which time the tree puts forth its blos- 

 soms for the next crop. A moment's 

 reasoning will show that the old fruit, in 

 the effort to maintain itself, must absorb 

 no slight quantity of the juices of the 

 tree, and this to the detriment of the 

 forthcoming crop. Thus the young or- 

 anges are robbed of their proper aliment, 

 while the old grow no better, and nothing 

 but loss results. 



The Proper Season— For picking or- 

 anges is then from February to April. In 

 the earlier part of this season I would ad- 

 vise a nice discrimination, in order that 

 only the fully ripe fruit be taken. Al- 

 though the color may be substanstially 

 the same, a practiced eye and hand can 

 easily detect the difference between the 

 ripe and the unripe. In the latter part of 

 the season the picker may gather the fruit 

 clean from the tree as he goes. 



The Best Picker.— Although a num- 

 ber of machines and devices have been in- 

 vented for picking, I know of no better im- 

 plement than the human hand. The man 

 or woman who supplies the hand and the 

 motive power therefor may stand on the 

 ground when the tree is small, otherwise 

 on a step-ladder. The picker twists the 

 fruit a little to one side, and with a quick 

 double jerk breaks the stem close up. It 

 does not answer to pluck the orange with 

 straight outward pull, as in that case a 

 small patch of skin adhering to the stem 

 is often taken out, thus ruining the orange 

 for market. 



Must Not Be Bruised.— In no case 

 should the oranges be dropped to the 

 ground or thrown even a few feet to their 



receptacle. The picker generally carries 

 a sack slung to his shoulder. 



Gather When Dry.— Oranges should 

 not be gathered in wet weather or when 

 there is dew on the trees, the dampness 

 being unfavorable to the keeping quali- 

 ties of the fruit. 



When the picker's sack is full he de- 

 posits the contents in a pile beneath the 

 tree, or in a box or barrel, thence to be 

 hauled to the packing house. 



Too Hasty Packing. — It has been al- 

 most a universal custom with our growers 

 to sort and pack the fruit immediately 

 after picking, and ship at once. I pass 

 over without just reprobation the careless 

 manner in which this work has usually 

 been done. The result in demoralized 

 markets and short returns has been 

 shown and commented on elsewhere. 

 For present purposes it is sufficient for 

 me to point out the better way. Those 

 who are joined to their idols and will not 

 learn from experience are not likely to be 

 admonished by a scolding. 



Curing.— Although we have totally ig^ 

 nored the plan practiced in other countries 

 of curing or seasoning our oranges before 

 packing, and have succeeded fairly in 

 making our fruit keep without it, I still 

 think that the coming packer will adopt 

 this system . When carried to the packing 

 house the oranges should be spread upon 

 shelves or racks not more than two or 

 three layers deep, all haying glaring de- 

 fects being at that time rejected. The 

 fruit is thus left from two to five days, 

 during which a portion of the water is 

 evaporated from the skin, leaving it more 

 tough and elastic and not so susceptible to 

 damage by bruising as in the fresh state. 

 Slight blemishes not readily discoverable 

 at first are likely to develop by this time, 

 and the defective fruit may then be thrown 

 out. 



Sorting.— I would advise every packer 

 to have two grades of fruit. Let him 

 make the first grade as uniform in size 

 and color as possible, and first class in 

 every respect. In sorting for this he 

 should reject 



1— All fruit affected by rot. 



2— All fruit pricked by thorns. 



3— Ail fruit with skin torn or abraded. 



4 — All fruit that is unripe. 



