Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-04-24
All About Oranges.
HOW THEY ARE GROWN, SORTED AND PA CIIED.
Correspondence of the StauAaan VINDI-
GATOR,

HOW IHE1 AXE GROWN, SORTED AND PACKED.
Correspondence of the Staunaan VINDI-
GATOR,
EMERALDA, LAKE Co, FLA, March 27-
| Here am in the midst CT three hundred and
| fifty acres of continues orange groves, with
the thermometer registering, generally, be-
tween 700 and 500, the all. soft and balmy,
with just enough breeze to make it delightful.
, Emeralda is all island, bounded by the waters
of the Ochlenaha and Lake Griffin, and is
only q few hours sail from Leesburg, a thrift
| ty town and winter resort Of about 1000 pop
ulation. Emeralda has 10 railroad, but two
lines of steamers come up the river and over
the lake daily, and oftener during the busy
shipping season. Some ten or twelve families
live on the Island, and these eithef own
groves or are engaged by grove owners who
live elsewhere to look after their groves here.
There Is one avenue or street, mile long,
which runs through the principal portion of
the island down to the docks, and On either
side of this avenue are the tramways owned
by the Florida Central & Pacific, and by the
Florida Southern railroads, for thepurpoSe OF
conveying the fruit from the different packing
houses down to the wharf, whence it is shipped
to the Northern cities. On both sides of this
avenue are the groves and in the midst of
them the dwelling houses, stores, post
Office &c.
There are also some very rich and beauti-
full "hammock lands" on EmeraIda, the
largest and prettiest being a palmetto ham
mock or grove, comprising fifteen acres. The
drive through this hammock IS beautiful. The
live oak hammocks are very pretty too. The
orange trees in their wild state all grow with
in these palmetto OF live oak hammocks,
because they require very rich soil to grow
in. All of the natural orange groves are
made by clearing these hammocks and graft
ing the wild trees from the sweet ones. The
groves of natural growth are considered the
best. Emeralda is almost wholly devoted to
tile cultivation OF the orange, and these are
some of the finest bearing groves in the State
The grove am now staying on is only five
acres and brought 81, 200 for this years crop.
The busy fruit season begins in November
and lasts until April; some prefer gathering
their fruit and getting it off early in time to
demand the holiday prices, but most wait I'M
til much later as the market is higher in the
spring and the fruit much sweeter.
These groves are indeed beautiful; the long
rows of trees with their dark green foliage
and rich golden fruit, relieved here and there
by the tender green Shoots" that are just
putting forth, harbingers Of next years crop,
and the fragrant white orange flowers, form
a picture that would delight the eve of any
true lover of the beautiful.
Now the 'orange men, the pickers, the
packers, the SlZerS, the SorterS, the box maxi
ers, &c, are all hard at work getting the fruit
off. The head man is called by all the "l5oss
dShCl. dllu II 10 lullC W WdlCIl
them. Each picker is provided with long
ladder bag to swing across his shoulders, a
pair of clippers-pulling Injuries the fruit
and orange boxes in which to put the fruit as
soon as gathered. A man is engaged in haul
ing the filled boxes to the packing house and
bringing back empty ones to be filled, and
also to keep the tally of the number of
boxes each picker gathers. The pay for pick
| ing a box is cents. A good hand picks
seyenty-five in a day.
Alter the oranges are taken to the packing
house, they first pass through the hands of the
sorter. who throws into other boxes all that
are imperfect in shape, OF in any way; these
are packed and marked ''culls and of course
do not bring so good price as the perfect
ones, which are called 'brights, those with a
| brOWniSh tinge are called ''ruSsetS,' and are
the sweetest orange, though they do not sell so
! we'll, as they are not as pretty. Now the
oranges are run through a siZer-a machine
which is made so that by pouring the fruit
into it and turning crank it lets all oranges of
the same size fall into the same bins that are
ready to receive them. The wrappers and
packers have their stands by these different
bins, and their hands fly so fast in their work
that one might easily imagine they were piece
OF the machinery. A packer always knows
Just how many OF any size twill take to fill a
seventy skies, called "seventy sixes," one
hundred and twenty skies, called "twenty
SKIES, one hundred and ffties, called 'fifties %
ninety skies" and 'siXties." Now just so
many Of any of these above named sizes fills
box evenly when packed properly. One
would imagine twas very easy thing to
pack a box of oranges, but let him try, as
did, and he will find himself very awkward
about it. There is a certain science about it
not so very readily acqured there is science
in the movement in which the wrapping paper
is taken up in one hand and the orange in the
other, and to the little twist given which Sc
cures the paper around the orange. Then
there must be so many rows and so MANY
oranges to the row; for instance, a box of
"ffties' must be packed in layers of ''fours
and threes," that is, four rows with four to
the row, and three rows with three to the row,
of course alternating. A good wrapper and
packer can put up fifty boxes day, receiv-
ing cents per box.
forgot to mention that ''box maker is
kept busy al the time making nice new boxes
at cent and a half a box, generally making
from s. to $3.50 a day. AS the boxes are
wrapped and packed they are taken in charge
by another hand whose sole business it is to