Читать книгу The Manufacture of Tomato Products - W. G. Hier - Страница 12

The proper degree of ripeness for tomatoes to be shipped depends, of course, upon the length of time it will take for them to arrive at their destination. Dead-ripe tomatoes will stand very little handling and shipping, particularly if the weather is warm and damp, as it so frequently is during tomato season. It is important, too, not to have the tomatoes delivered to the shipping station too underripe, as they are very apt to rot before they become red enough to cook up into a product of good color. That the employee in charge of receiving tomatoes at the shipping point should be a man of experience and good judgment as well as tact in dealing with the farmers, is apparent. So much depends upon the control he exercises over the farmers in getting them to pick their fruit at the proper degree of ripeness. If he falters, is uncertain, and changes his mind a few times, he is lost, as the farmers soon lose confidence in his judgment.

It is always difficult to impress upon the farmer the fact that tomatoes gain in weight during the ripening process, and the riper they have their tomatoes the more they get in dollars when they drive up on the scales. This argument cannot be advanced when the tomatoes are bought by the basket, as they are in the east, but when paid for according to weight and not volume, the ripeness of his tomatoes is an important point for the farmer to watch. At the tail end of the season when frosts are threatening, this argument of the increased weight of tomatoes which are red ripe all over of course loses its effect entirely. All the farmer is interested in at that time is in getting as many of his tomatoes as possible accepted before a heavy frost finishes them. At this time increased vigilance at the receiving end is necessary.