34 
BULLETIX 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The prevailing opinion that fruit packed soon after picking or before it has had 
time to cure will arrive in slack condition has not been borne out by the bureau inves- 
tigations. When the fresh fruit is firmly and properly placed in the box, it is no more 
liable to make a slack pack than is the cured fruit. It is probably true that the latter 
can be more easily packed, for less effort is required to press it into the box. The 
work of many rapid packers who make no effort to place the oranges firmly and who 
rely upon the press to squeeze the fruit into place, is conducive to poor carrying 
quality as well as to slackness. Each layer must be properly placed. Where the press 
is depended upon to shove the fruit down into the box the force exerted reaches through 
only two or three layers and often squeezes the oranges in these to the extent of break- 
ing the skin or inflicting serious bruises. After the boxes are loaded on the cars, 
jolting during transit loosens the improperly packed layers, and the fruit arrives on 
the market in a slack condition. When every orange is firmly placed, however, there 
is little chance that such slackening will result. 
Moreover, fruit held loose in the packing house during warm, humid weather is 
afforded an additional opportunity for blue-mold infection. Although some packers 
Fig. 16.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-moid decay of oranges on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled lots and in 
immediate and delayed shipments, 1911-12. 
consider this delay necessary in order to eliminate the injured oranges which have 
begun to decay, experience and observation show that while graders are occasionally 
able to discern and throw out such fruits, it is practically impossible to discover all 
infected specimens. The development of blue mold during the curing period accounts 
for the advanced stages of the decay usually found in delayed shipments on arrival 
in market. 
The average length of time dining which the experimental shipments were in tran- 
sit from Florida to Washington was 10 days; as a rule, from 8 to 10 days are required 
for Florida oranges to arrive at their destination. Several days may then elapse before 
the fruit is sold, and a still longer period usually intervenes before it is placed in the 
hands of the consumer. The 3-weeks' period used in the Washington market-holding 
tests represents approximately the length of time required to finally dispose of the 
