10 Jan., 1916.] Transportation of Peaches. 43 



the manager Lad kindly consented to reserve for this purpose. These 

 were run down to 31 degrees F., and twenty-four hours later were 

 despatched in an ice-car to the Government Cool Stores, Victoria Dock. 

 The trucks had been iced iii Melbourne before despatch to Shepparton, 

 but as the bunkers were found to be nearly exhausted on the day when 

 the fruit was loaded, the car was re-iced at Shepparton immediately prior 

 to its departure for Melbourne, and left with the bunkers well filled. 

 The temperature of the car prior to loading was 56 deg. F., and at time 

 of arrived at the Government Cool Stores, Melbourne — fifteen hours later 

 — the temperature was 50 degrees F., showing a fall of 6 deg. F. 



Kyabram was visited the following day, and the fruit, which was 

 assembled in the goods-sheds at the local station, was despatched imme- 

 diately after packing in an ice-car, which was also re- iced prior to 

 departure. In this instance, the fruit was not pre-cooled, as no means 

 were available at Kyabram for this purpose. The temperature of the 

 car immediately prior to loading was 53 degrees F. ; and on arrival at 

 the Government Cool Stores twenty hours later, the temperature was 

 60 degrees F., showing a rise of 7 degrees F. The difference in tempera- 

 ture shown in the two cars at the conclusion of their respective runs 

 was rather interesting, as illustrating the relative value of pre-cooling 

 fruit prior to consignment against forwarding fruit in ice-car without 

 :fi.rst extracting the heat from the fruit. As no thermographs were 

 installed in the cars, the variations in temperature during transit could 

 not be recorded ; but as the ice in the bunkers of the car forwarded from 

 Shepparton showed less than 30 per cent, wastage at the end of the 

 trip, the bunkers of the car despatched from Kyabram were found on 

 arrival at the Government Cool Stores to be more than half empty, 

 representing a loss in ice of over 50 per cent. Clear proof was thus 

 afforded of the assistance which pre-cooling renders in holding the inside 

 temperatures of ice-cars at a low uniform level during runs over long 

 distances. The excessive melting of the ice in the case of the Kyabram 

 ■car represented the work of extracting the heat from the fruit, and 

 which, in the case of the car from Shepparton, had been effected by the 

 pre-cooling; thus giving the fruit in this car the advantage of reaching 

 a, low temperature many hours sooner than was possible in the case of the 

 non-pre-cooled fruit despatched from Kyabram. Had the run been 

 extended over a much longer distance, say, to Sydney, re-icing e7i route of 

 the car from Kyabram would have been necessary to liold the fruit at a low 

 temperature. The low temperature of the car from Shepparton, however, 

 could apparently have been maintained throughout the run without 

 re-icing the car. In future experiments, it is hoped that self-recording 

 thermometers may be installed in cars, when tliei-mograph records may 

 be kept of the fluctuations of temperature in cars in transit. 



It was originally intended to record fairly elaborate data in con- 

 nexion with the experiment, so that the problem of successfully trans- 

 porting peaches over long distances could be studied from all possible 

 stand-points. Notes were therefore taken of all the circumstances 

 incidental to the experiment which perhaps might directly affect the 

 rcvsult of same. It was found, however, that owing to certain difficul- 

 ties tliis could not he oai'vicd out; so the notes were confined to those 

 headings shown in tlie list liereunder. No record was kept of tlie ages 

 of the trees from which the fruit was selected, whether trees had, or had 



