222 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



VENTILATION OF SMALL FRUITS WHILE IN TRANSIT. 



The question considered below, on which the two writers ap- 

 parently disagree, is of very great importance to the small 

 fruit grower. It is copied entire from the "Western Gardener." 

 "Which is right, or are both so? Sec'y. 



In the Fruit Grower's Journal of April 1st, we find the following- 

 article pertaining to ventilation of strawberries while in transit, to 

 which we take some exceptions. The article reads as follows: 



"It is pretty well understood among growers that strawberries do 

 not need ventilation while in transit. If a case of berries is left at 

 home uncovered for one night and. is examined, it will be found 

 that the berries in the lower tier of boxes have retained their 

 color better than those in the upper tier. The latter will have turned 

 dark, while those in the lower tier will have retained their bright- 

 ness. The examination maj^ be carried further, and if a box in the 

 upper tier is emptied out, those in the bottom will be brighter than 

 those on top. All of this goes to show that the more nearly air is 

 excluded, the better the appearance the berries will present when 

 opened in market." 



After several j^ears experience in fruit growing and shipping 

 small fruits, we have made the following observations: 



That strawberries, or any other small fruits that were kept over 

 night on the farm, should be given as much ventilation as possible 

 to have thein go through in first class condition. When we first 

 engaged in the business we filled our crates full, and, if the weather 

 was extremely warin or damp, on the following inorning we would 

 find that the berries in the lower boxes had begun to mold, while 

 those in the upper boxes were free from any indications of such 

 loss. This led us to look into the boxes and learn if we could not 

 provide a remedy. We then only placed our crates with one layer 

 of boxes instead of both, leaving them so that the air could circu- 

 late freely, left them either in an open shed or in open air, covered 

 w^ith canvass to prevent rain or dew from falling on the fruit. After 

 handling them in this way we had no complaints from our custom- 

 ers, and always found our fruit in good shape when we made ship- 

 ments. It is true that this takes extra time and work, but when one 

 takes into consideration the fact that his future trade will be largelj' 

 augmented by giving his customers their fruit in the very best 

 condition, he can well afford to give the extra time necessarj' for 

 this work. If the grower has cold storage to place his fruit in as 

 soon as crated and can ship in refrigerator cars, this airing process 

 is unnecessary, but we can assure our readers that berries handled 

 thus will stand further shipment than where placed in crates and 

 nailed up closely as soon as picked. 



Since we have proved to our own satisfaction that ventilation is a 

 necessity before they have been shipped, we are of the opinion that 

 ventilation while in transit would be desirable. 



