50 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
State over a million dollars since it was 
formed. There is no telling what this 
League can do if supported by the grow¬ 
ers of this State. 
Mr. J. H. Sadler: I know men who 
ship out oranges under refrigeration who 
believe it is the cure for all evils. They 
handle their fruit in a more or less care¬ 
less way in their groves, but think that 
by shipping it in an ice car it will get 
through in good shape. Now, to my way 
of thinking, that is a mistake. 
We are trying to settle that difficulty 
in my neighborhood and my Association 
—if I may call it that. We are trying 
to get at the point by careful handling. 
During the months there was the worst 
decay, we reduced our decay down to 
2 3-4 per cent. We did that by careful 
handling in the field. We worked every 
scheme possible to get it properly picked; 
we washed it and got it dry. When we 
first started out to do this washing and 
drying proposition, we made an absolute 
failure. Our machine did great mechan¬ 
ical injury, so we tried drying it in the 
sun. If the sun shone, the fruit was 
dried, and if it didn’t shine the fruit 
did not get dry. Yet we got good re¬ 
sults on account of the careful handling 
of the fruit. Now, we have machinery 
and appliances that give us the results 
I have mentioned. 
Away back in the early history of the 
country, we had a cheaper freight rate 
than we have now. The point of the 
whole matter is that our commodities cost 
so much more to market now. I think 
the icing business is a mistake, in some 
ways. 
I remember the time when tomatoes 
were shipped in a plain pine box, sawed 
out right there, and our stuff went into 
the market, not very attractive, but it 
brought the top of the market. Some 
smart, progressive man came down and 
bi ought in a car of crates, the kind that 
has since become the standard. I think 
the price was about 40 cents apiece, as 
against 7 cents for the other kind we 
had been using. They were fixed up 
mighty nice, and when they were shipped 
they brought about $1.00 ahead of the 
market. People went crazy over it, and 
every fellow was going to be a little 
smarter than his neighbor, and every¬ 
body had to use them. It just about 
trebled the cost to get our product put 
up. 
So far, we seem to think that we can 
solve all our difficulties by simply spend¬ 
ing money. Mr. Temple is a great advo¬ 
cate of careful handling; Mr. Temple is 
correct, too, but I think if our business 
is to stay alive and be a success ue have 
got to come down to consider the matter 
from an economical standpoint. It seems 
to be customary to settle everything in 
some expensive way. The extravagance 
is alarming, and we have no way to stop 
it, it seems. I have had to settle the 
greater part of my difficulties economi¬ 
cally. Now, if we can only prove that, 
if we handle our fruit carefully and pack 
it carefully, and save that icing expense 
of $60.00 or $70.00, think how much it 
will save us. As I said before, I believe 
the icing question is a mistake, i am, of 
course, strongly inclined to think what 
Mr. Temple says is all right, but when 
he advocated this icing so earnestly, it 
was all I could do to keep from going 
