FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
43 
community will have its well appointed 
packing house, under good management. 
When that day comes, Florida need 
have no fear of competitors, and she will 
then have squared herself for the success¬ 
ful marketing of the fifteen to twenty mil¬ 
lion boxes of fruit which she will soon be 
producing. In fact today, Florida’s 
greatest problem is to take care of our 
own products. A constructive plan of 
marketing should be engaging the serious 
consideration of all growers, and no fac¬ 
tor is more potential than good packing. 
I refer then to Florence Villa, not be¬ 
cause we consider ourselves as a worthy 
model, but simply because we are familiar 
with workings there. 
At this plant there is a competent 
manager. He is an expert in the fruit 
line, knows how to manage help to se¬ 
cure loyal co-operation, and is ever watch¬ 
ful that the operatives are placed where 
each man can accomplish the most good 
work. All picking and hauling is under 
his direction, as well as the inside work. 
Picking is done by crews as far as 
practical, each crew working under close 
supervision of a picking foreman, who 
also looks after teamsters while in the 
grove, seeing that loads are promptly se¬ 
cured, trees not damaged by wagons or 
mules or by the placing of ladders while 
in hands of pickers. By-the-way we find 
this an all-round job, and one of the most 
difficult places to find a man who will fill 
satisfactorily. No man in the whole line¬ 
up of employees has greater opportunity 
for looking after the grower’s interest 
than the picking foreman. 
Pickers are required to place their num¬ 
bered ticket on the filled box, and there 
it remains until inspection has been made 
for clipper cuts, long stems, etc. Inspec¬ 
tion is made at packing house, and we 
find this an improvement on inspection 
in the field. 
When drivers deliver a load of fruit 
at packing house a receipt is issued stat¬ 
ing what load consisted of, and exact 
time of arrival. Duplicate of this is sent 
to the office each evening, and same is 
checked the following morning. If inter¬ 
vals between loads seem unusually long, 
explanation is in order. Hauling being 
done on the day basis. 
When fruit arrives at packing house 
the owner loses his identity, and is known 
by his number thereafter. 
All fruit is washed and dried by the 
most approved appliances and delivered 
to the sorting belt perfectly dry. 
No part of the work has received more 
careful consideration than the standardiz¬ 
ing of our brands, and the uniformity of 
our grading. The idea has been to sim¬ 
plify to the fewest number of brands and 
grades, taking great care not to fix stan¬ 
dards higher than could be uniformly and 
constantly maintained. We fixed upon 
three brands, representing three grades, 
which are distinctly designated on the 
boxes, and into these go all the marketable 
fruit of the house. 
The “swell” or “bulge” pack is used, 
with metal center strap. Rounded edge 
boxes, finest quality printed wraps 
throughout, wraps given close twist, and 
fruit so placed in box that printing reads 
right side up when seen from branded end 
of box. 
The average output of this house is 
from 1,500 to 1,800 boxes per day, the 
