A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A NEW MACHINE FOR PEEL- 
ING CITRUS FRUITS. 
By S. C. Hood, 
Scientific Assistant, Office of Drug-Plant and Poisonous-Plant Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 13 
Description of the machine 14 
Operating the machine 18 
Changes required for the various citrus fruits. 19 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the United States the production of citrus fruits, especially 
oranges, grapefruit, and lemons, has reached a stage where there is a 
demand for more careful grading of the fruit, and consequently the 
lower grades are gradually being diverted from the fruit trade into 
the manufacture of various by-products. The first step in the man- 
ufacture of these products, whether oils or other materials from the 
outer peel or food products from the pulp or juice, consists in remov- 
ing the peel from the fruit. Owing to the tender nature of the fruit 
and the great variations in its shape and size, it has not been easy to 
accomplish this with any of the machines now on the market. It 
was necessary therefore to devise special machinery and apparatus 
which would work up the fruit at low cost and with a minimum 
demand on the labor supply of the citrus districts during the busy 
harvest season. The machine which has thus been devised not only 
peels the fruit with great rapidity, but also makes it unnecessary to 
sort the fruit prior to putting it through the machine. 
The machine has been thoroughly tested at Orlando, Fla., and it 
has been found that by its use one man can in one hour remove the 
peel from 2 tons of oranges or from 3^ tons of grapefruit. The peel 
comes from the machine in a finely divided condition suitable for 
the extraction of the oil, and the peeled fruit is delivered in a condi- 
tion suitable for use in the manufacture of various food products. 
This peeling machine has been constructed by the United States 
Department of Agriculture, has been patented under United States 
Letters Patent No. 1186317 and is dedicated to the public. 
13 
