188 Strawberry-Growing 



use refrigerator ears more than formerly. Many railroads 

 run special strawberry trains of ventilator and refrigera- 

 tor cars on passenger schedule and do not load them 

 down with other trafHc. 



In loading a car the crates should be braced, so that 

 they will not shuffle, and so that there will be an air 

 space around each crate. The method is described by 

 F. S. Earle : ^ " Begin the load in either end by laying 

 down a row of packages with their ends snug against the 

 end of the car, but with three to six inch spaces between 

 them. Two half-inch strips, as long as the car is wide, 

 are laid down on the row of packages, one at the front and 

 one at the back (Plate XVII). These are nailed down by 

 a small nail driven into the ends or heads of the crates or 

 boxes. Another layer of packages is placed on these 

 strips, taking care to put each box directly over the one 

 below it, so as to preserve the air spaces from bottom to 

 top of car. Strips are nailed on these as before, and other 

 layers of packages are added until the desired height is 

 reached. Another tier is then started in the same way, 

 taking care to jam the ends of the packages squarely 

 against those of the front tier, so as to preserve the air 

 spaces intact, not only from top to bottom, but also from 

 end to end of the car. When the car is in motion a cur- 

 rent of air comes in at the front end ventilators and passes 

 through between the tiers of packages without interrup- 

 tion, and escapes at the rear ventilators. Side ventila- 

 tion is usually provided also ; but it is much less important 

 than that from end to end. 



"When the middle of the car is reached it becomes 

 necessary, unless the packages chance to closely fill the 

 space, to brace the piles solidly to prevent their shifting 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1900, pp. 442-3. 



