174 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
investment and not an expense and 
strengthens the confidence in all ship¬ 
ments. 
Our crate material has received the 
most critical consideration during the past 
season, and rightly so, as the crates should 
be strong and capable of standing any 
reasonable punishment which is liable and 
will come to most any shipment. There¬ 
fore, it is necessary that the crate be made 
of the very best material, well stapled, 
and made with from four to five cement 
coated nails to the cleat. They should be 
loaded into cars, with each box on end, 
and tightly loaded so as to prevent shift¬ 
ing and breaking; with two strips on the 
top of the bottom tier, and with a nail in 
each strip to the box. The top tier should 
be loaded likewise, one strip to each tier 
and this strip should be against one side 
of the car and alternating for each tier. 
However, the safer loading would be two 
strips to each tier on the top with the 
ends of the strip in contact with one side 
of the car and the other to the opposite 
side of the car, leaving space for ventila¬ 
tion in each car and between each row 
of boxes. 
As above stated, with the enormous 
amount of fruit to be shipped and taking 
into consideration the high cost of ma¬ 
terial such as boxes, nails, paper, etc., 
there is no doubt in my mind that the 
time has arrived when the lower grades 
of fruit will necessarily have to be ship¬ 
ped in bulk. During this season the pack¬ 
ing material and labor have cost in the 
neighborhood of from 90 cents to $1.00 
per box, after the fruit reaches the pack¬ 
ing house, to place it aboard the cars 
ready for shipment. The continual flow 
of this lower grade of fruit from the 
State in this manner only adds to the cost 
to the consumer without helping the qual¬ 
ity of the commodity. It is somewhat 
like going into a store and buying a dozen 
eggs for 50 cents and paying the mer¬ 
chant a dollar for a container in which 
to carry your eggs home. There has been 
possibly more bulk shipments from the 
State during the past season than during 
all other seasons combined and has prov¬ 
en to be a successful and satisfactory 
method of shipment. With the fast de¬ 
pletion of the forests and the increasing 
cost of manufacturing, crate material 
seems to be settling on a base of higher 
prices than ever known except during the 
war and yet the law of averages should 
bring the prices to a reasonable figure, 
and especially so if the crate manufactur¬ 
ers will permit the business to revert back 
to the old quality and on a competitive 
basis. The present prices only tend to 
make necessary the devising of some plan 
whereby the low grades and off quality of 
fruit must be handled with less expense, 
if the industry survives with this class of 
fruit. 
In transporting our citrus fruits there 
are many problems in which we are all 
more or less concerned and the foremost 
thought in the minds of the growers and 
shippers is that freight rates must be re¬ 
duced. The rates are evidently slated for 
a reduction but just how much still re¬ 
mains to be figured out and settled on by 
the shippers, transportation people and 
the Interstate Commerce Commission. 
The transportation companies are in a 
