The far-reaching orange groves surrounding Riverside are one of the most
beautiful of all beautiful sights in Southern California, and the
fragrance of the blossoms is subtlest witchery.]
After the fruit has passed the graders and the several sizes are
separated, it goes to the packers, who pick up each orange or lemon and
place a tissue wrapper around it, and press it firmly into the shipping
box until the fruit “stands up high” above the top of the box. The cover
is then nailed on and the box is placed in the freight car which is
waiting at a convenient door. The average car carries 400 boxes of
oranges or lemons.
The fruit is shipped in refrigerator cars, and is usually about eight
days in making the trip from Southern California to the Eastern markets.
The California Fruit Growers’ Exchange ships on an average of sixty-five
per cent of the California production of citrus fruits. This is a
strictly non-profit, co-operative organization of 8,000 growers, the
largest body of agriculturists operating on the non-profit co-operative
plan in the world, and probably the most successful. At least, the cost
to market the citrus crop under this system is lower than the marketing
cost of any other agricultural crop in the world, which accounts in part
for the fact that oranges and lemons are sold throughout the United
States at retail prices which place this fruit within the reach of all.
* * * * *
What Kind of Steel Knives do not Stain nor Rust?
Shortly after the first of the year, in 1916, the U. S. Consul at
Sheffield, England, reported that a new steel had been introduced there
for use in making table cutlery. It was said to be untarnishable and
unstainable even when used with the strongest acid foods, as well as
non-rusting. The new product, which is called “Tirth’s Stainless” steel,
can be thoroughly cleansed by ordinary washing with soap and water, and
cutlery made from it will retain its original polish after use. The
properties claimed for it are of the steel itself and not the result of
any treatment; consequently knives made from the new product can easily
be sharpened in the regular way without fear of resulting damage.
While the initial cost of cutlery made from “Tirth’s Steel” will
probably be about double the usual cost, for not only is the price of
the steel considerably more than that of other steels used for the same
purpose, but it also costs more to work up, it is nevertheless expected
to prove a welcome discovery to restaurant and hotel keepers as well as
other large users of table cutlery because of the immense saving in
labor occasioned by its use.
Why is it Necessary to Keep Unusually Quiet when Fishing?
The experienced fisherman who smiles at the amateur’s restless fidgeting
and complaining has discovered by careful observation that the fish who
swims around in such an exasperating manner just a foot or so away from
the temptingly baited hook has had an advance tip that something out of
the ordinary is going on up above him. For sound, whether it be the
noise of an oarlock or a companion’s casual remark, can be heard more
than four times as easily by the fish in the water beneath than it can
up above in the air. Sound travels very quickly through the air,
traversing ten hundred and ninety feet in a second, but it reaches
forty-seven hundred feet away under water in the same time.
When the crowd on the other side of the baseball grounds yells across
the field it seems as though we have heard their cheers as soon as they
have been given, and so we have for all practical purposes, although in
reality half a second has elapsed while the sound has been coming across
the field. The time taken by sound in traveling is more apparent when
the volume is sufficient to carry it a long distance. The sound of an
explosion of a large quantity of dynamite and ammunition in Jersey City
was not heard in Philadelphia, ninety miles away, for over seven minutes
after it occurred.
[Illustration: CLIFF DWELLINGS, WALPI, ARIZONA]
[Illustration: _Photo by Brown Bros._