The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-10-22
ORANGES.
The Preparation and Shipment
DELIVERED BEFORE THE CENTRAL
ORANGE FARMERS AND FRUIT
GROWERS CLUB, sEPTEM-
Der %, 1879, BY CAP.
TAIN B. NJ. SIMS.

From the South Florida Citizen.
Nh. President and Gentlemen of the
association
1 appear before you in compliance
with a call of the Executive Commit
tee, to deliver an address on gather
ing and preparing oranges for ship,
ping. l will be very brief, having
no secret art or new theory, only a
few practical suggestions, gathered
from personal experience and obser.
walton.
The first thing necessary in gath
ering oranges is a good light ladder.
We often see some heavy, rough,
temporary arrangement thrown
against trees, skinning the limbs and
bruising the fruit, the man having,
probably, to come down two Or three
times to arrange his ladder before he
gets hundred oranges. Every man
before he commences gathering,
should get some cedar or other nice
light wood and make good self
supporting ladder.
The first question that arises is,
whether the fruit should be pulled or
clipped. Most fruit dealersrecommend
clipping, but do not know what res.
son they have for it. / suppose it is
because they see the fruit from the
East Indies has been clipped, and /
guess the people there have about as
much reason for il as the boy did for
carrying rock in one end of the sack
to balance against the corn. My
idea is, that they do just as well
plucked.
Oranges should, on no occasion, be
| gathered in wet or cloudy weather.
When gathered in wet weather, it is
almost impossible to save them.
knew 1900 oranges piled wet, and
half of them were rotten the second
day. Ihave often known them to rot
in twelve hours when put up wet.
On the other hand they generally
keep remarkably well when put up
without bruising and thoroughly dry.
Last October / gathered twenty. five,
summed them five days and kept them
until March, part of them in the open
air in barn loft and part covered
up in box. Every one kept per.
stectly sound except three which the
reaches eat into. The only secret in
saving them is not to get them bruised
and then get the rind perfectly dry.
Judge Speer put up lot last year in
Kindred sand and saved them nicely
all winter.
Every man who has a grove should
have packing house conveniently
arranged. AS soon as the oranges
are gathered, they should he carried
and put in the bins, handling them
carefully as if they were eggs. After
laying in the bins from twenty.four
to thirty-six hours, and going through
sweat, they should be thoroughly
dried and if practicable, summed
about two days. They should then
be carefully sorted, all the rusty ones
put to themselves.
In asserting, by having your first
grade consist of entirely perfect,
choice oranges OF nearly medium
size, and branding with your brand
it will become known to the dealers,
who will pay outside prices for fruit,
which they can depend on as being
fine, nice-fayored Florida oranges.
In your first choice you should
never put an orange that has dropped,
or one that has been damaged in
packing and these first selections
should be marked mo. L." so that
the lots cannot possibly be mixed.
The second selection should be of
good color and fair size, and marked
mo. 2."' The rusty fruit should be
marked "rusty," as some will pay
| good prices for rusty oranges if they
are in good condition. On the care
taken in the selection and packing of
the fruit, and on its uniformity, will
depend the price which brand will
bring in the market.
Each orange should be wrapped in
a good quality OF tissue paper. Boxes
should be we'll filed, so that they will
not shake about and get bruised but
at the same time, be careful that they
are not over filed, or they will be
crushed. The crates should be OF the
ordinary size, 12x12, and twenty.
seven inches long. These boxes will
hold from twenty-eight to forty or
anges. The boxes should be strap
ped on both ends and in the middle.
Any dealer will send his stencil on