THE SHIPMENT OF FRUIT IN COLD STORAGE 



J. F". SCRIVICR, TRUIT INSPECTOR, MONTREAL, QUE. 



ONE would hardly believe the amount 

 of loss sustained by shippers through 

 their fruit landing in poor condition. There 

 has been a great deal of nonsense written 

 about cold storage on vessels by people who 

 never took the pains to enquire or examine 

 into the subject for themselves. It was 

 once thought, and some shippers will still 

 argue, that the bulk of the damage to the 

 fruit in shipping is the result of poor stor- 

 age on the vessels. I contend and can 

 prove that if fruit, apples especially, are 

 picked and packed properly and placed on 

 the steamer in good condition that over 90 

 per cent, will land in good condition. 



BEGIN RIGHT. 



In considering a system of cold storage 

 for fruit we must begin at the right end 

 where the fruit starts on its long journey to 

 market. If apples are picked and allowed 

 to remain in piles, exposed to the sun and 

 rain for days before packing, or if packed 

 immediately and then barreled and left in 

 the orchard exposed to the weather, the 

 most perfect system of cold storage in the 

 world is not going to make those apples 

 land in good condition in the Old Country. 



Inspectors at Montreal take the tempera- 

 ture of the fruit in barrels or boxes before 

 loading, and have often found the ther- 

 mometer 10 degrees, yes, sometimes 15 de- 

 grees, higher in the package than the out- 

 side temperature. On opening some bar- 



rels we could feel the heat rising two feet 

 above the barrels. Now, is it reasonable 

 to suppose that, even with the best of cold 

 storage, these apples are going to reach the 

 British markets in good condition. It is a 

 common fault with all of us to blame some- 

 body else for our misfortunes, when they 

 are really caused by our carelessness. If 

 fruit shippers, instead of blaming the cold 

 storage in cars or steamers for their losses, 

 would change their method of handling 

 fruit, pick and pack properly and load the 

 fruit in cool condition they would find their 

 losses greatly reduced. If we had large 

 cold storage warehouses at central shipping 

 points where fruit could be placed and thor- 

 oughly cooled before loading on cars the 

 loss would be reduced to a minimum. 



Here are a few rules to observe when ex- 

 porting fruit, especially apples : Do not 

 allow your fruit to become ripe before pick- 

 ing. Do not allow apples to remain in pile* 

 in the orchards. Do not allow apples to 

 remain in barrels exposed to the weather 

 Do not put windfalls in even No. 2 apples. 

 Have the fruit cool before loading. 



I do not think it is possible for any ship- 

 per to observe all these rules, the way busi- 

 ness is conducted at present, and the only 

 remedy I see is cooperative packing and 

 shipping of fruit. I hope to see the bulk 

 of the fruit handled in this way within a 

 few vears. 



FRUIT GROWING IN GREAT BRITAIN 



W. T. MACOUN, HORTICULTURIST, C. E. r".. OTTAWA. ONT. 



DURING my recent visit to the old 

 country many interesting observa- 

 tions regarding fruit and fruit culture were 

 made. 



Strawberries had been in season but a 

 few days when we reached Ireland on June 

 24, and after being nine days on a steamer 



we were very ready to test this luscious 

 fruit. The first strawberries tried appeared 

 to confirm an impression obtained at the 

 close of the strawberry season in a previous 

 year, namely, that the old country straw- 

 berries, though high in flavor, were lacking 

 in sprightliness and character. We were 



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