Tropical Fruits 
NOTES ON MARKETING AND CULINARY RECIPES 
Mrs. P. H. Rolfs 
Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
During the development of the trop¬ 
ical fruit industry in Florida, there has 
come to the writer many amusing and 
valuable experiences. It is amusing to 
look over past records and find a check 
retained as a valuable souvenir amount¬ 
ing to five cents, received in return for 
two crates (14 dozen fruits) of No. 11 
seedling mangoes. This was received 
in 1906, and it is most gratifying to be 
able to state that during the past season 
seme of our new fiberless mangoes sold 
as high as 50 cents each. Much of the 
skill and labor required to place better 
fruits on the market can be credited to 
the efforts of the members of this So¬ 
ciety, who are interested in the tropical 
fruit industry. 
The mango season of 1914, extending 
from April, when the first seedlings 
were marketed, to October, when the 
last of the Totofari were taken from the 
trees, gave some interesting notes. The 
fruiting of the new Indian varieties is 
being watched with intense interest. 
The grower who succeeds first in bring¬ 
ing these to ripening is quite noted lo¬ 
cally. It was the first year that a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of the finer fruits were 
grown to allow them to be well distrib¬ 
uted on the markets. It was also the 
first year to allow a fair trial of the par¬ 
cel post shipments. 
SHIPPING BY PARCEL POST 
This method requires much time for 
wrapping and packing, but it is inter¬ 
esting and satisfactory, in that it brings 
the grower and consumer more in touch 
with each other. The grower learns 
what the consumer wants and the con¬ 
sumer learns what the grower has to 
offer. 
I would urge a more general use of 
the corrugated paper parcel post car¬ 
ton in mailing fruits. These are quite 
inexpensive. If they are not handled 
by your local dealer your postmaster 
will gladly furnish you with address of 
manufacturer, from whom you can or¬ 
der direct. We may not yet have an 
ideal container for each kind of fruit, 
but I am sure if we call for such the 
manufacturer will produce it for us. I 
was assured by one manufacturer that 
if my needs were not met, as to size, 
etc., that if I would give requisite meas¬ 
urements and order a sufficient number 
some weeks before needed, that same 
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