28 THE KANSAS PEACH. 



President Murray : One fault with all fruits is the packing. 



L. Erb : For packing peaches, the six-basket and four-basket car- 

 rier, the California box and the one-third-bushel box are best. There 

 is a new six-basket carrier which holds less but is better and lighter, 

 I do not like the California box ; it holds too little. The favorite in 

 New Orleans is the one-third-bushel box. Common fruit in baskets, 

 good quality in one-third-bushel boxes, and the best in the California 

 box or six-basket carrier, is, to my mind, the best arrangement. The 

 consumers want small packages and the above meet the demands of all 

 classes. Small growers should learn to have fruit uniform. In mar- 

 keting, send small quantities by express, but where there is enough 

 for a car the refrigerator is much the better. 



Mr. Lang (of Memphis): Use the refrigerator car. We load a 

 great many, but, no matter how good the car is, the results cannot be 

 good unless we pack and handle j^roperly. We should have several 

 ice stations on the route. Open the doors before icing, as this lets 

 out the foul air. Have them open for from one-half to two hours, no 

 matter how hot the day is, as the car may be musty. Ice, then close 

 one side and the drip box, to drive out the warm air, and it will be 

 cooled enough in fifteen minutes. In loading leave a space of fifteen 

 inches between the fruit and the top of the car. Fruit begins to de- 

 generate as soon as gathered, and gas forms at the top ; therefore this 

 space makes ventilation : if it is not so the fruit molds. The boxes 

 should be set end against end, and a sjoace left between the piles. 

 Seven or eight cases will reach across the car, leaving two inches be- 

 tween the crates, so the refrigerated air circulates through the fruit. 

 The peach keeps the best of any fruit, but it also shows any imper- 

 fection quicker. Mushy peaches are worthless to the consumer. 

 Fruit must look attractive on the market, and uniform — not good and 

 knotty together. The peach takes less ice : but put in all the ice you 

 can, because the fruit and the box are warm. Fruit will carry from 

 here [Kansas City] to Buffalo or Philadelphia with one re-icing. 

 Chill your car and the fruit first, and you will have no trouble. 

 Vegetables generate heat ; so the box must stay filled with ice. This 

 means icing every 300 miles, and even then it is hard to keep peas 

 from wilting and turning yellow. Do not re- ice as heavily for peaches 

 as you do for other things; one and one-half tons are enough to keep 

 the fruit from getting too cold. A California car takes a ton more 

 than a Kansas City car. To unload a car gradually and hold it for a 

 day or so is better than to put all on the market at once. Fruit sent 

 by express needs no ice-car, and keeps in a cool place until after the 

 glut is over. Sometimes cars are reshipped to avoid a glut, and this 

 cannot be done unless a refrigerator car is used. Fruit getting too 



