190 Strawberry-Growing 



strawberries were shipped from the Tangipahoa district, 

 Louisiana, to Alaska. 



The modern refrigerator car is thoroughly insulated. 

 It has double walls, doors and roof, with the space be- 

 tween filled with several thicknesses of building paper, 

 or other non-conducting material. If the ice boxes are 

 replenished frequently, the temperature should not vary 

 more than four or five degrees between shipping point and 

 destination. It is unimportant whether the ice boxes 

 are at the ends or overhead. The car is iced from the 

 outside, and the melted water is carried off without enter- 

 ing the car, so that the berries are kept dry as well as cool. 

 The temperature is held around forty-five degrees. About 

 five tons of ice are required to ice a car. Refrigerator 

 lines operating in a commercial strawberry district must 

 provide adequate facilities for marketing the crop. The 

 failure of the Armour Car Line to furnish refrigerator cars 

 in 1905 for the strawberry-growers along the Atlantic coast 

 lines cost the company over $100,000 in damage claims. 



Only sound, firm, under-ripe berries should go into a 

 refrigerator car. Refrigeration does not improve berries ; 

 if they are soft when they go in, they will be mouldy and 

 "leaky" when they reach market. Refrigeration merely 

 retards the processes of ripening and decay. A refrigera- 

 tor car is loaded in the same way as a ventilator car. 

 A continuous circulation of cold, dry air passes over 

 the berries. Before shipping, examine the drip pans 

 to be sure they are not so choked with dirt that the 

 melting ice will flood the car. The car is iced twelve to 

 fifteen hours before it is loaded. In hot weather, the 

 ice bunkers may need refilling before the car is shipped, 

 especially if the berries are not pre-cooled. Stations for 

 re-icing should be so placed that the car will be examined 



