The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-08-20
WHY THEY ARE NOT
GOOD KEEPERS

California oranges come in COMPETE
ton the Pacific coast fruit has it on
us, on account of its superior keeping
qualities. The consumer who lays in
small quantity for immediate con-
sumption prefers the Floridas be-
cause they are jucier and of higher
flavor. The dealer has learned to
fight shy of Floridas on account OF
their inferior keeping qualities
Various causes have been ascribed
Tor this. But is it not possible that
thechief one has been overlooked?
And Is it not possible that this chief
one could be easily controlled? The
question is one which should inter-
est every orange grower in the state.
We all know that the rupture of a
single Juice cell in an orange be-
comes at once focal point of decay.
And those who handle thefruit in
the markets know that a single or
ange showing theslightest decay up
on the inspection of box or a ship
ment of fruit causes suspicion in the
mind of thebuyer. with a resultant
depreciation in value of the whole.
Florida produces the best orange
in the American market, and it pro-
duces the fruit at less cost to the
grower than any other part of the
/ nifad fofa xxyI,o -, y,
trouble? Not in the packing houses
There has been marvellous improve
ment in packing house equipment
within the past few years. In the
modern packing house the equipment
end the handling of thefruit are al
most perfect. We must look else
where
The writer believes that by far the
most fruitful cause of theinferior
keeping quality of the fruit may be
found in the picking and handling
in the groves, and that it is due to
the prevailing custom of paying
pickers by the box instead of a per
diem wage. The average Florida la
borer, in the orange belt, receives
around dollar and half per day
through seven or eight months of the
year. He could not be considered
a skilled laborer. When the orange
picking season opens, the demand
for pickers is great and seven to ten
cents per box is paid. An active
picker in the orange grove can earn
$3.50 to $500, per day. Result: Not
enc man in twenty of them can af-
ford to handle the fruit with proper
care. The growers interests are not
The inducement is Of
feed to every man of them to fill the
greatest number of boxes possible, re-
gardless of all considerations except
the count of boxes. If crew of
expert fruit pickers is attracted
here from northern fruit growing
sections, count of boxes Is the first
d. The interests of the
growers are practically lost sight of.
There are here, for the money they
can make. r,As
True, some of the pickers handle
our oranges as, daintily as they
would handle eggs. But such care
full orange pickers are not In a ma
jority. It need not be expected that
they would handle an orange as
as If working for regular
per diem wage. And let it be un-
destood that the fruit damaged in
the grove by the careless picker goes
the most carefully conduct
ed packing houses and into the
northern markets, defying detection
until its box is opened for inspec-
ton and the bruised spot has devel-
oped into decay that may depre-
ciate theselling value of car load !
shipment and establish the belief !,
that the Florida orange is bad
keeper. The orange growing indus
try thus gets black eye, the grow
er is injured in purse. the money no
paid to imported pickers, il any.
went out of the state, while that
earned by home laborers is spent
avishly because earned easily. :
Perhaps a per diem wage agreed
ipOn and adhered to by the growers
would not result in complete cure
'or the decay trouble. But there can
pc no question it would result in
reduction of unsound fruit
m the markets of the North and bet
.er returns to the Florida grower
orlando Sentinel.