176 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
ripe can nearly always be disposed of to 
good advantage in nearby markets. 
COMPARISON OF VACATIONS. 
For such a vacation as I have been rec¬ 
ommending, very little preparation is 
required. A short-sleeved house dress is 
most comfortable to wear when packing 
pineapples. The question is often asked, 
“Do you wear gloves?” No, they are en¬ 
tirely unnecessary; in fact, a hindrance. 
The pine should be grasped in such a 
manner that the spines point away from 
rather than toward the hand. A scratch 
now and then may be expected, just as 
when you are cutting a bouquet of roses. 
If you really want the roses, you do not 
leave them on the bushes because of the 
thorns. 
It is nearly always cool in the packing 
shed. We often have to weight down 
the wraps to keep them in place. The 
day s work can not begin very early un¬ 
less the bins have been filled with fruit 
the previous day, as it is not advisable to 
pack fruit wet with dew or rain. Some¬ 
times this cannot be avoided. 
From what I have said you may think 
it is all pleasure and no vexation. Let 
me tell you there is no fun in a game 
where you always win. There is no ac¬ 
complishment worth the while that does 
not present its perplexities. It is rather 
trying to one’s patience, especially a wo¬ 
man’s, to get the fruit to the car in good 
condition and have your neighbor, a 
man, put a load of dripping wet stuff on 
top of them. Another trial to the small 
shipper is the delay in freight being sent 
out from small stations. These minor 
vexations are overcome when one has car 
lots. 
The shipping season, as I have said, 
continues from three to six weeks, owing 
to climatic conditions when the fruit is 
maturing, but the packer is free to be 
away from the packing shed a portion of 
the time, so the work does not become 
monotonous or tiresome. I am always 
sorry when the last load leaves the shed, 
and that feature of my summer vacation 
is closed for the season. 
The crowning point to the credit of this 
kind of a vacation is the assurance of at 
least a small bank account, and you are 
not obliged to draw on next year’s sal¬ 
ary for the necessary cash to pay your 
board for the summer’s outing. 
But let us, for comparison, turn to the 
way the average woman prepares for and 
spends her summer vacation, be it at the 
seashore, mountain or to visit friends. 
She studies railroad timetables, hotel and 
boarding house rates, fashion magazines, 
spends hours deciding what she is likely 
to need in order to be properly dressed 
for whatever place may have been select¬ 
ed. 
Finally she boards a crowded train, for 
many others are journeying to their va¬ 
cation place. She endures the discom¬ 
forts of the journey as best she can, and 
finds herself at last where she is to have 
the right of possessing one or two rooms 
during her delightful vacation. Delight¬ 
ful! Yes, especially if your next door 
neighbor snores all night, and the crowd 
from the next train arrives at i a. m., and 
other guests are leaving and are awak¬ 
ened at 4 a. m. 
What is a more strenuous life than 
