The Florida agriculturist., 1889-01-02
FOR THE FLORIDA AeRcULTURIsT
Picking, Packing, and Shipping Or
angeS.

AT present all over the middle and
southern part of Florida, the gathering
and preparing for market of the orange
crop, is absorbing the attention and
tlme OF many. In travelling around q
little we were surprised at the many diff
1erent methods adopted for getting the
oranges on to the cars, many of them be-
ing so laboriOus that we wondered that
the laborers did not 'strike.' We also
noticed that the man who put his fruit
up III the best and most attractive form
was the one who had everything most
conveniently arranged, and handled the
fruit with the least labor. For the bene-
hit OF those who have never visited a we'll
arranged packing house, and do not
know the amount of hard lifting saved
by the proper arrangement of details.
we give these few hints. The owners of
big groves are generally able to have q
large packing house with conveniently
arranged sweating racks, which thev can
leave from year to year, but the average
owners OF five or ten acres generally have
to make their stable or sometimes their
house answer this purpose. In the first
place, a proper place for sweating the Or
anges should be made Some growers
prefer to pick into boxes, and let them
remain there till sized and packed. but
we prefer the rack, which can be made of
rough lumber at less expense than the
boxes. Make it so that the lower side
will be just high enough for person to
stand up to without having to stoop or
oend over Racks ten feet long and four
vide will hold comfortably twelve boxes,
and as they are made on an incline there
need be no reaching for the oranges. as
they will roll toward the front, handy for
either the sizer or wrapper. Proper siz-
ing is one OF the essentials to good pack
ing, and, unless well done, the packer
cannot make the packages uniform with
out good deal of extra work, so that it
is all-lmpOrtant to have a good sizer
There are several kinds on the market
ranging in price from IS to $40. For
those who have only a limited number of
boxes, the cheaper one will serve every
purpose, and a good one can be made of
two strips OF 2x4, with the edges trimmed,
so as to allow the oranges to run smooth
~ down them. The top spread should
be 2% inches, and the lower 81; this will
size from $50 to 96. Those who have a
large crop could afford to purchase one
already made, The Mote-Hiatt sizer tan
adv. OF which appears in this paper) is an
excellent one, and to those who can af-
ford it, we doubt if there is a better one
made. To save labor the sizer should be
so arranged that instead of the fruit
falling into a box it will drop into ashute
that is SO arranged that the oranges will
roll into bin, from which they are
wrapped. This saves a good deal of
handling, which saves time, and 's,rinao 10
money"
Have bench made in front of yourbin
just high enough so that when an orange
box is placed on it, it will be convenient
for the packer to reach into it without
either having to lift his arms to an un-
comfortable position or to stoOp over.
The wrapping and packing should be
done at the same handling, and great
care taken to have each box firmly
packed and in such manner that they
will present a good appearance when
open The method for packing the. diff
ferent sizes has already been given III the
AGRICULTURIsT, so it is unnecessary to
take up long space describing it. How
ever. we will add, that in order to bring
good prices, the work must be thOrougly
done and nothing sighted. After the box
has been filed, it should be showed along
the bench to one end, where an arrange
ment for pressing down the cover while
mailing should be made. This will make
the mailing on the cover easier and prevent
any possibility of it's splitting. The
hopping of our ordinary pine boxes can be
done away with, ais it is useless expense,
where the box is properly made, but the
box when finished shouldnot contain less
than eighty nails and those well put IN.