GATHERING AND PACKING. 



97 



the dew has dried off of them, and arranged carefully on the 

 shelves, one tier deep only, and not pressing against each other. 



Here they remain from four to six days, or longer, if desired ; 

 when the skin feels dry and firm they are ready for sorting and 

 packing. 



No one who has tried the drying process, as above, will any 

 longer feel a doubt as to its infinite superiority over the old 

 method of sweating. The last method toughens the skin by evap- 

 orating in a quiet, natural way, the watery fluid. The sweating 

 causes a heating, fermenting action, totally opposed to nature, that 

 expands the cells of the skin, and at once starts a decay, which 

 very often does not appear outwardly until the orange is many 

 miles on its w^ay to market, and thus the fruit arrives in bad 

 condition, very likely does not even pay expenses, and then the 

 grower tears his hair, and more than half the time blames the 

 transportation companies (who have sins enough of their own to 

 carry), for what is entirely due to his own ill-advised treatment 

 of his luscious fruit. 



A plump orange, in good order, as when picked from the 

 tree, may be laid away in a dry, well- ventilated place, and will 

 keep good for mouths in perfect condition, its skin finally shriv- 

 eling and hardening, yet the fruit remaining juicy and sweet ; 

 but place alongside of it one that has passed through the sweat- 

 ing process, and very soon it will soften and become a decom- 

 posed mass of pulp. We have tried both processes, and " know 

 whereof we speak," as do hundreds of others. In the light of 

 this new process of curing oranges the old method of sweating 

 will quickly become obsolete, and when all our growers awake to 

 this truth, and also to the fact that our golden fruit can be kept 

 for months in perfect order for shipment, if only proper care is 

 taken in the gathering and handling, so that no bruise shall 

 start decay before the aqueous fluids have evaporated. When 

 they awake to these things then will thousands of dollars be 

 saved to them annually. 



Impress on all who are employed in gathering the fruit 

 that now, when it is plump and full of moisture, the least fall or 

 blow will be the signal of decay. An orange will bear five 



