BETTER FRUIT 



Pioneer Horticultural Journal of the Pacific Northwest 



Entered as second-class matter April 22, 1918, at the Postoffice at Portland, Oregon, under act 



of Congress of March 3, 1879 



Volume XVI 



Portland, Oregon, November 1, 1921 



Number 5 



Water Shipment of Pacific Coast Fruits 



By The Editor 



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I Experience has taught fruit grow- | 



I ers of the Northwest that iefenience | 



I on railroads alone as a means of | 



I transforting their crop to market in | 



I this country brings both disaffoint- | 



I ment and loss at times. It is en- | 



I couraging, then, to find that water | 



I trans fortation is fast becoming ^ a | 



1 means of moving Pacific Coast fruits. | 



I Attempt is made in this article to \ 



I show not merely the development of | 



1 shiffing by boat, but to foint out as | 



I zvell the resultant benefits that come | 



I from more successful invasion of | 



I foreign markets. — Editor. | 



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TWO weeks ago the first big cargo 

 of apples shipped this season di- 

 rect from the Pacific Coast to 

 Europe was taken out of Seattle and Port- 

 land on the big ocean steamer Northumber- 

 land. The refrigerator cargo consisted of 

 a little more than 100 carloads of apples 

 and six or seven carloads of pears. 



A few days later two more large ship- 

 ments of apples going to Europe went for- 

 ward on the British steamers Moliere and 

 Cardiganshire. Early this month the steam- 

 ers Woodarra and Nebraskan are due to 

 load apples out of Northwestern ports for 

 destinations in England and France. 



Analyzed, these facts have important 

 significance to fruit growers of the Pa- 

 cific Coast. They mean that shipment of 

 fruit by water routes is safely past the ex- 

 periment.il stage and is to be more and more 

 of a factor in the distribution of fruits 

 grown here. They mean that shipping 

 firms have come to realize the importance 

 of fruit shipments and have met develop- 

 ments by fitting many of their boats with 

 refrigerator space. They mean that North- 

 western fruits have more firmly established 

 themselves in cert.iin European markets. 



In short, these shipments of whole train- 

 loads of fruit out of this section by boat 

 represent an important advance in distri- 

 bution and marketing of coast fruit crops. 

 This advance, as it may be noted today, 

 is one of real consequence — what it may 

 mean for the future is pleasing to contem- 

 plate. 



That shipment of Pacific Coast fruits 

 direct to England and ports of Europe by 



boat is a proven success and is certain to 

 become increasingly popular is the belief 

 of Sam Birch, representative in the North- 

 west of the great English fruit firm of 

 T. J. Poupart. Mr. Birch, after a year of 

 trial shipments of apples and pears from 

 Washington and Oregon, last month opened 

 a permanent office for his firm in the 

 Wilcox building, in Portland. Directing 

 operations from there he expect' to de- 

 velop a fruit export business of extensive 

 scope. 



The development of adequate and effi- 

 cient refrigerator service by trans-Atlantic 

 steamers between coast points and Europe 

 was one of the factors that influenced 

 Mr. Birch's firm to open a permanent 

 branch in the Northwest. Last year most 

 of the apple and pear shipments sent to 

 his firm in London and Liverpool went by 

 rail across the continent and were shipped 

 by boat from New York, Montreal or 

 Halifax. 



Without particular disparagement to the 

 service given by the railroads, Mr. Birch 



finds vital advantages in the all-water 

 route, and almost without exception all 

 shipments of his firm this season are going 

 on trans-Atlantic steamers. 



"In the first place," said Mr. Birch, dis- 

 cussing the problem, "neither I nor mem- 

 bers of my firm knew how successful and 

 convenient a thing the Panama canal is. 

 Now we know of its advantages. 



"Then, in the matter of handling, how 

 much simpler the boat shipments make our 

 problems. At the ports here I supervise 

 the loading. In England representatives 

 of our firm watch the unloading. There 

 is no side-tracking and no shunting and 

 bumping of the shipments in transit. Hand- 

 ling of the shipments is cut to a minimum. 

 The fruit arrives in the markets of Lon- 

 don, Liverpool, Glasgow, Southampton or 

 other cities in excellent condition almost 

 without exception." 



The largest space reservation announced 

 by Mr. Birch has been taken on the Ne- 

 braskan, on which he expects to ship 

 22,000 boxes of apples. Total shipments 



.v;!^ iilH 



Modern -Methods of Conveying Hoiced Apples Aboard n-VesseL 



