FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
81 
types of loading wagons are employed. 
One requires 36 boxes and the other 45 
boxes to the load. In the former fruit 
is stacked in one row four high in a line 
tack from the driver. One long rope ties 
on the load. The other type of loading 
has three rows of 15 boxes each. These 
wagons are supplied with side racks. 
Ropes are placed from side to side to 
prevent the slipping of load. All wagons 
must be furnished with five inch tires. 
These teams deliver the fruit to the pack¬ 
ing house at a side entrance where it is 
trucked to its proper place in the receiv¬ 
ing room of the packing house. 
ARRANGEMENT OF HOUSE 
The fruit is stacked up north and south 
of the washer which is located on the east 
side of the center of the house. The 
drier and sizers occupy about two thirds 
of the length of the house in the center 
of the full space. The packed boxes are 
stacked up next the wall on the west side. 
This is the side next to the railroad track. 
The north end of the building is used as 
storage of the crate material and for the 
box-making machine. The office is out¬ 
side and detached from the main house. 
Each grower has a number and at all 
times is known only by his number. These 
field crates are trucked to the soaking- 
tank of the washing machine into which 
they are emptied. Here the fruit is al¬ 
lowed to remain some few minutes. More 
fruit is put into the soaking tank as fast 
as the fruit is carried up on to the brush¬ 
ing machines. The type of washer em¬ 
ployed is the Lemoneira. Here the fruit 
goes through a narrow passage supplied 
6 
with a fine spray where it is brushed and 
polished. The fruit is constantly turned 
over so that every particle of dust is re¬ 
moved from it. From here the fruit pass¬ 
es on to the drip rack. At the very first 
stage of entering the drier, the fan blows 
air upon the fruit driving off most of 
the adhering water. The passage through 
the drier occupies about five minutes. 
Two ways of heating this air are em¬ 
ployed. In one house the air is warmed by 
the exhaust of the gasoline engine, and 
in the other house the air is heated by 
a blast furnace, burning crude oil. The 
temperature to which this air is heated 
varies according to weather conditions 
from 100 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. At 
the end of this passage through the drier, 
the fruit comes out upon the grading 
belts. Here the graders are seated. They 
are furnished with gloves on both hands, 
and they take the fruit and place each 
grade of the house upon separate belts. 
If there is any doubt in the mind of the 
grader where the fruit belongs, it goes 
into the next lower grade. Every orange 
doubtful as to its keeping quality, is a 
cull. Each house makes three grades 
based largely on the color of the skins. 
These belts carry the fruit down to the 
sizers. The type of sizer used is the 
Maull. The bins of the sizers are so ar¬ 
ranged that the drop of the fruit is very 
slight, falling on a thoroughly padded 
surface thus avoiding injury to the rind. 
The packers at this point take the fruit, 
wrap it and put it into the boxes. This 
pack is about one to two inches high, 
the fairly tight bulged pack being used, 
so that the fruit may arrive in the market 
showing no slackness. A hookless type 
