Marketing 189 



by the bumping of the cars in switching or in starting 

 and stopping. This is done by placing pieces of six-inch 

 fence boards upright against each tier of packages, on 

 either side, and reaching from the floor to the top of the 

 car. Stout cross-strips are nailed to these uprights a 

 foot or so from the floor and from the top. Braces are 

 sawed about an inch longer than the measured distance 

 between these opposing sets of cross bars. The brace 

 pieces are put in place and are driven forcibly home. 

 This settles the load together very solidly. The braces 

 are toe-nailed in place to prevent the possibility of their 

 becoming loosened and dropping down. When thus 

 loaded, nothing short of a collision can cause the load to 

 shift ; yet no two packages are in contact except at the 

 ends, each being surrounded by a rapidly moving current 

 of air as long as the car is in motion." 



When twenty-four quart crates are used, a load is 510 

 to 600 crates, occasionally 630, other sizes in proportion. 

 The smaller the load, the better it will carry. Recently 

 some railroads have reduced the minimum load from 

 15,000 to 12,000 pounds. 



Refrigerator cars. 



More than half of the berries that are marketed are 

 shipped in refrigerator cars. The time that strawberries 

 can be held in them depends on the conditions under 

 which the fruit was grown, the variety, how ripe the 

 berries were when put into the car, the package used, and 

 the care in loading and icing. Ordinarily, it is safe to 

 hold them four or five days ; under very favorable condi- 

 tions they can be shipped to markets six to ten days 

 distant. Hood River Valley growers sometimes ship 

 Clarks to Alaska and to New York and Boston. In 1914 



