Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations


one to three inches. In general, the rainfall deficit was larger in
the part of the citrus belt south of Lake Alfred than in the
northern part. As a result, more groves were irrigated in the
area south of Lake Alfred.

 LABORATORY DATA
 External Fruit Quality.-External fruit quality was evalu-
ated by measuring three characteristics-color, texture and size
(Table 8).

 TABLE 8.-PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF GROVES BASED ON EXTERNAL
 FRUIT QUALITIES OF SIZE, COLOR AND TEXTURE.

 Distribu- Distribu- Distribu-
Size of tion Green tion Smooth tion
Fruit of Groves Fruit of Groves Fruit of Groves
Inches </, % % %
2.74-2.85 .. .. 8.6 25-49 1.9 0-20 57.3
2.86-2.95 ....-.- 40.7 50-74 4.3 21-40 19.7
2.96-3.05 ......... 35.8 75-84 19.9 41-60 11.9
3.06-3.15 ......... 11.7 85-94 33.5 61-80 7.7
3.16-3.27 ......... 3.1 95-100 40.4 81-100 3.4
Mean
2.960.09 ........ 8912.76 29-22.30


 The average fruit size was 2.96 inches in diameter, with a
range from 2.74 to 3.27 inches. Nearly 75 percent of the groves
had fruit that averaged between 2.85 and 3.05 inches in diameter.
These sizes expressed to the nearest commercial packinghouse
size are as follows: The average size was 200 ranging between
126 and 250, with 75 percent of the groves averaging between
176 and 216. Close to 90 percent of the fruit showed some trace
of green, although a number of samples had excellent orange
color. There was not a single sample that did not contain a few
fruits showing traces of green. Samples with more than three-
fourths of the fruit showing traces of green were found in 95
percent of the groves studied. Samples collected from 35 groves
showed some traces of green on every fruit. In the study of
rind texture, 92 samples (57.3 percent) showed less than 20
percent of the fruits smooth at stem end. Only one out of 161
samples did not have a single fruit rough at the stem end. Per-
cent fruit smooth at stem end was negatively correlated to fruit
size and percent green fruit.