July, 1910 



THE CANADIAN HUiili C U L i U RiST 



179 



^ The Prc-cooling of Fruit for 

 ^^ Shipment^ 



^H J. A. Raddick, Cold Storage Commissioner, Ottawa 



^B The so-called pre-cooling of fruit, veg- 

 etables, or other produce, consists of 

 an arrangement whereby the circula- 

 tion of air which is chilled with a re- 

 frigerating machine, is directed through a 

 loaded car by means of temporary and ad- 

 justable pipes or ducts. That is to say, the 

 car is placed in the same relation to the 

 refrigerating machine for the time being as 

 an ordinary chamber in a cold storage ware- 

 house. 



My attention was first drawn to this sys- 

 tem by the work of the bureau of plant in- 

 dustry of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture in California where they experi- 

 mented in connection with the shipment of 

 citrus fruits and vegetables in conjunction 

 with the Pacific Fruit Express Company, a 

 subsidiary company of the Southern Pacific 

 Railway system, and by correspondence with 

 Mr. L. A. Hoy, of Chicago, who is interesteJ 

 in the promotion of the idea. 



Two years ago, 1 fitted up the necessary 

 connections at the St. Catharines Cold 

 Storage and Forwarding Company's ware- 

 house, but we were never able to give it 

 a fair trial on account of the small size of 

 the plant. The partial cooling which was 

 att'octed was undoubtedly of some benefit, 

 but hardly worth the time and trouble. It 

 would take too long with the six ton ma- 

 chine in use there. The pre-cooling of a 

 car-load of warm fruit, in addition to the 

 chilling of the car itself, which is a consid- 

 erable item, takes about two tons of refrig- 

 eration and as it should be accomplished in 

 about four hours, it is equal to a machine 

 capacity of twelve tons in twenty-four hours, 

 if two cars were to be cooled at one time, 

 it would require a plant of at least twenty- 

 five tons capacity. Further, in order to be 

 effective, the cold blast should have a tem- 

 perature of not more than twenty to twenty- 

 five degrees and that precludes the possibil- 

 ity of using the same circulation in the 

 warehouse where the temperature in the 

 fruit rooms must not go below thirty-two 

 degrees. As long as the fruit in the car is 

 warm, the cold air blast can safely be re- 

 duced to several degrees below the freezing 

 point, but this is not permissible in a ware- 

 house where the contents are already re- 

 duced to the minimum of safety. 



During the summer of 1909, 1 had an op- 

 portunity of inspecting the large plants 

 which have been erected by the Southern 

 Pacific Railway in California. They have 

 spent $1,51)0,000 on two plants, one at Kose- 

 ville in northern California and the other 

 at Colton in the southern part of the state. 



These two plants are at interior points 

 where the traffic converges for the overland 

 journey. The one at Colton has 500 tons 

 of refrigeration and can handle a whole 

 train of cars at one time. In addition to 

 the cooling facilities, there is a large equip- 

 ment for making the ice with which to fill 

 the bunkers of the cars. 



You will observe that these cooling fa- 

 cilities are being provided in California by 

 the railway company and 1 am of the opin- 

 ion that it properly falls to them to do it. 

 In the first place, they benefit by the saving 

 of ice, and a plant erected by the railway 

 can be made to serve a whole district at 

 very less cost than the aggregate cost of 

 erecting and operating a number of small 

 plants. Moreover, it should be the business 

 of the railways to carry the freight which 

 is entrusted to them in the best possible 



anner and, if pre-cooling comes to be one 



•Part of an address on "The Cold Storage of 

 Pruits." delivered before Ontario Fruit Growers' 

 Association at its last convention. 



of the necessary aids to the transportation 

 of Canadian fruit, it seems to me that it is 

 up to the companies to furnish it. 



I can see the possibility in the future, or 

 I might say the practicability of operating 

 a plant, say at Hamilton, to serve the dis- 

 trict between Niagara and that city in con- 

 nection with western shipments. With some 

 system of prompt movement of the cars from 

 loading points to the cooling centre, they 

 would be started on their overland jour- 

 ney without serious delay and with the best 

 possible chance of reaching their destination 

 with the contents in good condition. 



It will be evident from what I have said 

 that pre-cooling does not differ in principle 

 from the cooling which is effected by placing 

 the goods in a cold storage warehouse, but 

 if it is conceded, and it certainly may be, 

 that immediate and rapid cooling is im- 

 portant in the handling of perishable pro- 

 duce, then it must be admitted that, under 

 certain circumstances, pre-cooling has de- 

 cided advantages. One advantage over cool- 

 ing in a warehouse is that it saves hand- 

 ling the fruit and the consequent exposure 

 to warm air while being transferred from 

 warehouse to car, a thing to be avoided 

 as much as possible. With proper equip- 

 ment, a car-load of fruit may be cooled in 

 this way as much in four or five hours as it 



would be in two or three days with ice only 

 in a refrigerator car. A more rapid cir- 

 culation of air at a much lower temperature 

 than can be secured with the use of ice re- 

 moves the heat in a comporatively short 

 time. 



Perhaps no other single horse remedy has 

 ever been so generally used or had so great 

 a reputation as Dr. Kendall's Spavin Cure. 

 Almost everyone who owns a horse has heard 

 of it . As it has been in use for nearly half 

 a century, it is evident that its jjopularity 

 is the result of merit. Persons owning horses 

 will be interested in a book entitled "A 

 Treatise on the Horse and His Diseases," 

 published by the manufacturers of Kendall's 

 Spavin Cure. It may be obtained free at 

 drug stores or by writing for it to the Dr. 

 B. J. Kendall Co., Enosburg Falls. Vt. 



Canadian National Apple Show 



Although the British Columbia Govern- 

 ment have refused to make a grant, ar- 

 rangements are being pushed in British Col- 

 umbia for the proposed first Canadian Na- 

 tional Apple Show. Officers have been elec- 

 ted. The treasurer of the Board of Man- 

 agement is Geo. R. Baldwin, a controller 

 in the city of Vancouver. In addition to 

 the cash already in sight the committee 



Keeps out large Animals — Keeps in the Chickens 



We've put strength and stiffness into the PKKRLRSvS JUNIOR Ponltry 

 Fence so it can stand the attacks of restless animals from the outside. We 

 have made it close enough so small fowl cannot get through. It is made 

 of much heavier wire than the ordinary poultry fence, well galvanized, 

 therefore much more durable. 



Peerless Junior the lence that saves expense 



That heavy, No. 9, hard steel wire at top and bottom holds the 

 fence taut and true without the necessity of fence boards and 

 saving more than half the usual number of posts. 'Jhat means 

 considerable saving to you. Write for our printed matter about 

 PEERLESS Feuces. We make fences and gates for every 

 purpose, 



BAMVEIX HOXIE WIRE FENCE CO^ Limited 

 > Hamilton, Ont. 



L Dept. O. Winnipeg, Man. 



O.K. Canadian 4 Row Sprayer 



Sprays 4 row,s while you drive, no hand pumping 

 to do. Wheels and nozzles adjustable for wide 

 and narrow rows. Can be adjusted to spray vines 

 6 inches to 2^ feet high. Can be furnished with 

 Broad Cast vineyard and tree spraying attachments 



Write for particulars. 



Canadian Potato Machinery Co., Ltd., gai!t, ont 



" CARY " 



FIRE PROOF SAFES AND VAULT DOORS 



ALL SIZES 



Ford & Fcathcrstonc - Hamilton, Ont. 



W. T. SHERWOOD, Representative 



