SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 13 
HEAVY LOSSES FROM DECAY IN COMMERCIAL SHIPMENTS. 
The losses from decay during transit have been very heavy in the commercial ship- 
ments of fruit, and the experimental work of the Bureau of Plant Industry was under- 
taken in Florida in response to the many requests for advice and assistance which 
came to the Department of Agriculture. It is difficult to estimate what the actual 
loss from this cause has been during past seasons. Several reliable commission men 
who handle large quantities of Florida oranges each year have stated that averaging 
the good with the bad years probably 10 per cent of the fruit decayed before reaching 
the consumer. Experimental shipments made under the direction of this bureau 
indicate that the loss may have been fully as heavy as this. 
Since Florida's orange crop averages 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 boxes per year, the 
decay of 8 or 10 per cent of this fruit entails an annual financial loss of at least half a 
million dollars. Ten per cent of 4,000,000 boxes amounts to 400,000 boxes, on which 
the picking and packing charges have been paid, with approximately $50,000 spent 
for box material alone. The freight charges represent something like $200,000; and 
these amounts, together with the commission charges, the value of the fruit discarded, 
and the cost of repacking what is left, bring the total loss high enough to seriously 
endanger the welfare of the industry. 
REPUTATION INJURED BY DECAY IN TRANSIT. 
Unfortunately, the financial injury is not confined to the fruit actually decayed. 
It is impossible to estimate the loss which has resulted to the industry from the bad 
reputation which Florida fruits have gained in the trade. While it is difficult to dis- 
cover how far the low prices occasionally received have been due to this cause, many 
fruit handlers in northern markets condemn very strongly the poor keeping quality 
of the Florida orange and willingly admit their intention of using fruit of better 
keeping quality if they can obtain such from other points. The situation of the 
Florida orange grower would be critical indeed if it were not for the fact that fruit 
handled carefully shows so much less decay than does fruit picked and packed under 
careless commercial conditions. 
HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT WORK IN FLORIDA. 
Investigations by the Department of Agriculture, having in view the discovery of 
the factors underlying the successful shipment of oranges from Florida to northern 
markets, began during the season of 1907. The work, which was planned along lines 
similar to those followed in the California investigations, included the determination 
of the character and type of handling employed in the various operations of preparing 
fruit for shipment and the discovery of the relationship between present methods 
and the occurrence of decay. The object of the work of the department was to sug- 
gest changes in the industry which should reduce the immense annual financial losses 
of the Florida growers by enabling them to market their fruit in sound condition. 
The first researches in Florida were conducted by Mr. L. S. Tenny, who devoted 
his attention to an inspection of the work done by various picking crews and individual 
pickers, as well as to the character of work being done in the packing houses. It 
required only a short time to indicate that what had previously been found to be the 
case in California was also true in Florida, viz, that the fruit was receiving consider- 
able injury in the course of its preparation for shipment. Conditions were, if any- 
thing, somewhat more exaggerated, owing to the fact that the thin-skinned, juicy 
Florida orange is of a more tender type and is more easily injured than the bulk of 
the oranges grown in California. It is safe to say that the kind of handling which 
would enable the California orange to go through the various picking and packing 
operations without injury is not safe for the Florida product. The importance of 
avoiding dropping or puncturing by long stems is most urgent when dealing with 
