31 



and raised by means of a simple elevator, or made in a room above 

 and slid down a properly arranged chute. 



(3) The house should be made as cool and dry as possible. 



(4) Keep everything clean. Do not, as is too often done, allow 

 decayed or diseased fruit to lie around. Each diseased or decayed 

 fruit is able to render the air of a whole packing house dangerous 

 to all other fruit therein, especially if any such fruit should have 

 even the slightest break in its skin. 



CURING. 



The time necessary for curing depends upon the conditions just 

 before and during picking. If the fruit is picked in dry weather, 

 cooling is the essential factor. The fruit should be put in an open, 

 dry, shady place one night, or at the most two. If gathered when 

 moist or during wet weather, as is sometimes unavoidable, then the 

 fruit must be dried as well as cooled, and this will sometimes require 

 three or four days. For this curing set the pines on their crowns 

 base up. This necessitates the curing shed being as cool, dry, and airy 

 as location and construction can make it. Damp and uncured fruit 

 is often shipped, and may carry through in good condition, but it is 

 not safe to take the risk. 



GRADING. 



It is questionable if it is advisable to make more than one grade for 

 shipping. If a local cannery is available, the culls could be worked 

 up there, as the margin of profit on shipped fruit generally hardly 

 justifies shipping second-grade fruit except at times of especially 

 high prices. First-grade fruit should be free from sun scald or other 

 injury, of good form for the type, of proper degree of maturity, and 

 of good quality. Some of these are difficult to determine, but one 

 handling much fruit can, by close observation, grade very accurately. 

 In a strictly first-grade pack the crown should also receive considera- 

 tion, all the pines being as uniform as possible. 



SIZING. 



The methods of sizing are exceedingly varied, most of it being done 

 by the eve alone. One of the serious criticisms of Porto Rico fruit is 

 its irregularity as to sizing. One brand of 24's will not be the same 

 as another brand, and. worse yet, the sizes of the same brand will not 

 be uniform. It is next to impossible for the eye alone to size uni- 

 formly, as it is too easily deceived by variations in crown, form, etc. 

 As yet there is no system perfected to the extent that there is for 

 oranges and grapefruit, and probably never will be, unless we develop 

 more regularly formed fruits. Aside from the eye system there are 

 two others quite largely used with various modifications. One is by 



