Excerpt from Coloring Citrus Fruit in Florida

In the second experiment the room was filled with grapefruit which showed about. The same percentage Of color as the first lot, and the same plan of intermittent gas treatment and ventilating was followed as before. At the end Of 29 hours, the gas having been applied for 19' hours Of this time, the fruit was approximately 50 per cent colored. The engine was then stopped and the fruit held in the closed gas room 38 hours longer. At the end Of this time the fruit was from 90 to 100 per cent colored and in practically the same condition as that in the first run. The lot which received the most gas reached this same color condition in 21 hours less time.

The third experiment was made with a mixed lot Of sorted fruit, the entirely green being separated from the turning fruit or' that showing 5 to 10 per cent color'. The same procedure of intermittent gas treatment was followed in this as in the two earlier experiments. After 73 hours in the coloring room, with the engine running 31 hours of this time, the turning fruit was from 90 per cent to full color, and the fruit which was deep green when placed in the room was just beginning to take on a yellowish tinge. This last mentioned lot Of fruit was kept in the coloring room with inter mittent gassing for 66 hours more, or about six days in all, at the end of which time it was about 90 per cent colored. This experi ment demonstrated that it, was possible to color even deep-green grapefruit but that it required a considerably longer time than that which was changing color naturally.

In the fourth experiment, a roomful of grapefruit showing 5 to 10 per cent color, as in the first two experiments, was used to test the effect of a very light concentration of the gas. The gas was applied for a period Of 4 hours on both the first and second days and for 11 hours the third day. The engine was then stopped and the room kept closed. At the end of 50 hours the fruit was about 70 per cent colored, and in 39 hours more, or 89 hours in all, it was practically full colored. The buttons \(short ends of stems with the calyx lobes attached) were still firm and green, in contrast to the results Obtained in the first three experiments, in which they were loosened during the gas treatment and in many cases dropped out.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.