4 BULLETIN 399, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
MATERIAL AVAILABLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ORANGE OIL. 
In the commercial production of oranges there is always a greater 
or less quantity of waste fruit. Oranges which are defective in 
shape or which show even slight blemishes on the skin are rejected 
and thrown out on the cull heap (fig. 1). The quantity thus rejected 
varies according to the season, to the variety of fruit, and to the 
care which is given to the production of the crop, but even under 
the most favorable conditions it is considerable. With the increas- 
ing tendency to grade the fruit more closely and to better the market 
conditions, the proportion Of culls will doubtless increase rather than 
decrease. 
A considerable loss results also from the dropping of the fruit in 
the groves throughout the winter months. Certain varieties show 
Fig. 1.— Piles of cull oranges in a grove. 
this tendency regularly, although all varieties have a tendency to 
drop the fruit when held for market advances under unfavorable 
climatic conditions. 
In addition to these sources of available material it is possible to 
obtain a quantity of low-grade fruit. At present this low-grade 
fruit, packed in so-called " plain wraps," is sometimes shipped to 
near-by markets for immediate consumption. The returns are ex- 
ceedingly small, especially in years when the crop is abundant. It is 
believed, however, that with greater attention to marketing condi- 
tions this inferior fruit can be more profitably utilized in the manu- 
facture of by-products and thus open a wider field for the better 
grades. At the present time there is without doubt enough low- 
grade fruit available to make possible the extraction of a quantity of 
orange oil sufficient to supply a considerable portion of the domestic 
demand. 
