Arizona republican., 1908-11-08
ORANGE PACKING
 BEGINS TOMORROW
THE FIRST CARLOAD OF SALT RIVER ORANGES WILL BE
 SHIPPED NOV. 10.
The Crop This Year Will Be as Large as Last and Its Fruit Will Be Finer. Packing House.

raCkln9 f1ouSe'
 Early tomorrow morning forty girls and young men will begin the work of packing oranges at the new packing house of the Arizona Orange associa- tion for the first shipment The first carload of oranges from the Salt River valley-and that means the first from anywhere-will be shipped No vember 10.
 The first car will be from the J. F. Fugazze grove and will contain some boxes of lemons as well as oranges It will be immediately followed by other cars, and it is expected that the packing house will be kept busy till the middle of January
 The season is unusually early this year. The quality of the fruit will be better than last year and about same amount grown. Last year about 130 cars were shipped from the valley of which 1lS went through the Arizona Orange association.
 In regard to the probable crop this year. MT. Will Robinson, treasurer of the association, who had charge of the Buena Vista ranch last year, said:
 There will be just as many oranges this year as there were last and the sizes will run larger. Another point of interest to the orange grower is the new markets which have been opened. Arizona oranges are fast be- coming recognized in the east as su- perior to the California brands in fla vor and size. Then we have the ad- ded advantage of getting them to the market long before all other fruit Our earliest shipping date was November 9, and this year we shall be but ono day behind that record. There 1arc oranges shipped from the Portefti1le district as early as this. but tlAey are as green as gourds. No mature fruit reaches the east as early as ours. Salt river oranges. are the only ones with flavor and .color that reaches eastern markets oa time for Thanks giving. and fhevn4re rapidly becom- ! ing aware cf fhst fact. They are six weeks abead of the Riverside and Redlands fruit and about a month fahead of the POrterVille product.
 We have been shipping navels to New York for the past ten years. and the highest price paid for oranges in the country is for Salt River valley navels
 While there will be about the same number of cars shipped this year more boxes will be handled by the associa- tiOn than last. I think more atten- tion- than last year think more at tention will be paid to grape fruit than increases more trees will be put out Grape fruit trees begin bearing younger than orange trees and are also heavier than oranges and do not take so many to fill Q box. The price per box is about the same, though there IS not so large a demand for them. The Harvey houses will be sup piled this year with grape fruit raised in the valley. Eastern markets are beginning to ask for them as the people acquire a taste for this fruit
 The Orange association will this year ship their fruit through F. H Spiech & Co, of Riverside Mir. Spiech was here October 20 to look over the ground and make arrangements. He will return in time to oversee the shipping of the first car. This firm has agents in many of the large east ern cities and the handling of the en- tire product should simplify the work of shipping to the various cities. MT | Spiech will probably handle other va rletles, such as the Jaffas as well as navels. He has just returned from the east, where he made arrangements with his agents for the sale of the ! entire crop.
 The work of packing the oranges ! this year will be greatly expedited by the facilities offered by the new pack. ing house and the introduction of tho most modern mechanical device fol the rapid grading of them. There i. | ample room in the building for tn, | packing of all the oranges the valley can raise for the next ten years. I 1 is built of brick with a corrugated | metal roof. All of the immense flool | space is devoted to the packing O. | the oranges with the exception of { | small office built in one corner Tn, | central portion of the building is occu. | pied by the big double grader whicl
 is run by electric motor. While thi, grader appears to be intricate on frs ] inspection, it is really very simple ant | resembles a series of moving side | stairway. only the sidewalks an, | stairway are made of canvas so tha | the fruit will not be bruised in it l journey to the different bins in whicl
 it finally lodges ready sorted for tn | market.
 As the boxes are taken from the Wa 1 gons they are placed one at a time ol
 a metal Jumper which works auto
 matically and dumps the oranges a
 the rate Of five boxes a minute oI
 the escalator. The bottom of thi
 endless chain arrangement is ike
 with running ropes w-ith interstice