76 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
weeks later the total was reduced to 4 
per cent. This large reduction was made 
by a little quiet educational work by 
showing the different pickers where they 
were doing bad work, and by telling them 
of the damage this kind of work was do¬ 
ing. This particular lot of pickers was 
on day pay, so it was easier to work with 
them than it was with pickers paid by the 
box. Notwithstanding the better work 
clone, the quantity picked remained about 
the same and was perfectly satisfactory 
to the owners. This was in a community 
where I had been told less than a year be¬ 
fore that it was entirely out of the ques¬ 
tion to pay by the day. Decided improve¬ 
ment may be made, however, with men 
working by the box. One crowd under 
a good foreman after some help by us 
was averaging only about 2 per cent, in¬ 
jury at several inspections. 
Those who think it is impossible to 
handle the fruit with care should visit a 
large peach ranch in Georgia, where un¬ 
der one general foreman and with col¬ 
ored help, ten cars and more of peaches 
are shipped in one day, and the fruit is 
so delicate that a heavy pressure by the 
finger in picking damages the carrying 
quality. 
The outlook, then, is hopeful. Decay 
—at least damaging decay—is not neces¬ 
sary. Fruit, sound and carefully han¬ 
dled has been held in the packing houses 
two weeks with but slight decay. Other 
lots have been shipped and arrived on 
the market with almost no loss and have 
stood the market holding test remarka¬ 
bly well. On the other hand roughly 
handled and injured fruit should not be 
expected to keep, and it does not. The 
methods of harvesting and packing at 
present in operation are extremely rough 
and should be expected to produce a poor¬ 
carrying product. Experiments show 
that this is true. It is not impracticable 
on the other hand to change these meth¬ 
ods sufficiently so that a great improve¬ 
ment in keeping quality may be expected. 
DISCUSSION. 
Mr. Skinner—I note in your paper 
you speak of the oranges going 
through machinery. To what do you 
refer? 
Mr. Tenny—All the machinery 
found in the average packing house: 
the hopper, the elevator (if there is 
one), the sizer and into the bins. 
Mr. McClung—How long after the 
fruit was picked before the dropping 
of it was done? 
Mr. Tenny—We tried it at various 
times. As a usual thing, within 
twenty-four hours; almost certainly 
within thirty-six hours after picking. 
Mr. McClung—And you found the 
same results after the fruit was wilted 
a little as when perfectly fresh? 
Mr. Tenny—Very much the same. 
The majority of the dropping that 
causes damage in the commercial 
handling is done at the time of pick¬ 
ing, hence most of our experiments 
were made with fruit that was drop¬ 
ped immediately after picking. 
Mr. Warner—I think it would be a 
good thing for Mr. Tenny to give us 
a lecture next year on the methods of 
packing and shipping oranges from 
California, using the stereopticon 
slides so that we can see for ourselves. 
I make a motion to that effect; that 
is, that Mr. Tenny give us an illus¬ 
trated lecture at our meeting next 
year showing just how these matters 
are handled by our California brethren. 
Motion seconded, put and carried. 
