FLORIDA. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
119 
of the laws of nature have been mas¬ 
tered, especially those relating to the 
adaptability of certain plants to certain 
soils and the adaptability of certain fer¬ 
tilizers for certain crops. To say, how¬ 
ever, that the most advanced and suc¬ 
cessful trucker has reached perfection— 
either in method of culture or fertiliza¬ 
tion—would be a mistake. Each year 
the older and better class of truckers are 
demonstrating that “the half has never 
been told/’ and each year there is rapid 
advancement in the vocation of truck- 
ing. 
It is an indisputable fact that the aver¬ 
age number of crates per acre is yearly 
increasing. This results from a better 
cultivation, a more thorough knowledge 
of what kinds of fertilizers are best 
adapted to the crop, and a larger and 
more intelligent application of fertilizers. 
However, the growing of the crop is 
not the planter’s greatest difficulty. Ex¬ 
perience and observation have taught 
them, so that nearly all grow a paying 
crop, in quantity. After the crop is 
grown begins the planter’s real trouble. 
During the picking season pickers and 
packers are scarce, and the planter is 
forced to take any kind of help that of¬ 
fers itself. 
PICKING THE CROP. 
We will speak more especially of the 
tomato crop, as this is grown most ex¬ 
tensively. 
Among the difficulties the planter 
meets, there is none greater than the 
picking. At first sight it would seem 
that any one with a little care and at¬ 
tention could become an expert picker, 
but this is far from the facts. The 
greatest care should be exercised in the 
gathering of the fruit. This year, as in 
years past, there has been a constant 
complaint along these lines, and much 
fruit which, if it had been properly 
picked, would have sold as “Fancy,” was 
sold in the market as choice or even in 
lower grades. However, there has 
been some improvement in this direc¬ 
tion, and there will continue to be, as 
the careless picker is getting some very 
valuable experience on the wrong side 
of the ledger. 
PACKING. 
Here again the planter is met with 
another difficulty. Good packers are 
scarce. Many of the farmers have 
learned this by experience, and now in¬ 
stead of trying to pack their own fruit 
it is gathered and taken to a packing 
house, where none but expert and care¬ 
ful packers are employed. We have a 
class of growers who insist on placing 
the finest fruit on the top of the basket, 
while the under layer is made up of 
small, knotty fruit. A buyer told us a 
few days since that he purchased a car 
of tomatoes. A certain percentage was 
to be “Fancy,” the remainder “Choice” 
—with no culls. While they were load¬ 
ing the car the purchaser concluded to 
examine a few crates. On opening the 
first, marked “Fancy,” he found the top 
layers well packed and really fancy 
goods. On removing one of the layers, 
he found the lower layer made up of a 
small, knotty unwrapped fruit; in fact, 
the poorest class of culls. Another 
crate was opened, with the same results. 
He called the attention of the grower to 
these conditions, which resulted in the 
sale being declared “off.” 
There is also too much carelessness 
