Marketing 191 



within twelve hours from the time it is shipped, and 

 every twenty-four to thirty-six hours thereafter. 



Water transportation. 



This is confined mainly to shipping points on the South 

 Atlantic coast, notably from the Chesapeake Bay dis- 

 trict ; also from southern Michigan to Chicago and other 

 lake points. A considerable quantity of berries is shipped 

 locally on various rivers. Water transportation is some- 

 what cheaper than rail and the berries carry better, be- 

 cause there is less dirt, heat and jolting. The berries are 

 kept at a temperature of about forty-five degrees, by cakes 

 of ice placed behind slats around the sides of the hold. 

 The Old Dominion Line from Norfolk frequently carries 

 5000 sixty-quart crates a day to northern cities. Most 

 of these are brought to the steamboat in small schooners, 

 from strawberry fields that border estuaries many miles 

 distant (Plate XVIII). 



PRE-COOLING AND COLD STORAGE 



If a car is loaded with warm berries, the temperature 

 may rise ten to twenty degrees, and it is a day or more 

 before all the berries are cooled to a point where decay 

 is arrested. If possible, pick only in the cool of the morn- 

 ing. Set the crates in a cooling room for an hour or two 

 after they are packed. Berries may be brought to a uni- 

 form low temperature before the car leaves the shipping 

 point by pre-cooling. 



Pre-cooling methods. 



There are two methods of pre-cooling; to place the 

 fruit in a cold room before loading, or to blow cold air 



