CARS SUITABLE FOR CARRYING FRUIT 



The Railway Commission at Ottawa has re- 

 cently arranged to send James Hardwell, its 

 chief traffic officer; W. H. Bunting, president of 

 the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association; J. M. 

 Riddell, freight agent of the Grand Trunk Rail- 

 way, Montreal; and a representative of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway, not yet selected, to 

 examine what are considered the best cars now 

 used for the transportation of fruit In Canada 

 and the United States. These gentlemen have 

 beea instructed to make a thorough inspection 

 of such cars, gather all the facts available, and 

 report at an early date what they believe to be 

 the best oar, considering three points; first, 

 suitability for carrying fruit in warm or hot 

 weather; second, adaptability for the carriage 

 of other kinds of freight, w-hen not required for 

 the transportation of fruit; and, third, what is 

 likely to be the cost of the special kind of car 

 which they may recommend. 



As chief traffic officer of the Board, Mr. Hard- 

 well has special and varied qualifications for 

 work of this kind; Mr. Bunting thoroughly un- 

 derstands what is required by the fruit growers 

 of the .country, and Mr. Riddell has had long 

 experience as a local agent of the Grand Trunk 



Railway in Montreal, and has therefore had an 

 opportunity of noticing the merits and demerits 

 of the different kinds of cars used for the car- 

 riage of fruit and vegetables. 



WHAT THE COMMITTEE WILL DO. 



It is proposed not only to inspect the best cars 

 now in use in the Dominion, but to go to New 

 York and Jersey City, as it is thought that In thes e 

 places the committee will have an opportunity 

 of seeing a variety of the best cars used for 

 fruit transportation throughout the republic. 



The special object is to find a car that may 

 be used as a ventilated car during the short 

 fruit season, and at other times as an ordinary 

 freight car adapted for the carriage of other 

 commodities, and thereby relieve the railways 

 of the expense of providing and maintaining 

 special ventilated cars, which, owing to their 

 non-adaptability for other purposes, remain 

 idle during the greater part of the year. 



It is sincerely hoped that the result of the in- 

 vestigation may be the selection of a car that 

 will remove the many difficulties incident to the 

 transportation of fruit under the conditions 

 which at present exist. 



THE CONCESSIONS MADE BY THE RAILWAY COMPANIES 



As a result of the evidence given last summer 

 by representatives of the fruit growers before 

 the Railway Commission, when it met in To- 

 ronto, the following concessions to shipperts 

 have already been approved by the commis- 

 sioners. These concessions have been volun- 

 tarily proposed by the railway companies. It 

 is expected further concessions will be made 

 later. 



The changes are : 



(a) That under the heading of " Fruits," the 

 Canadian freight classification be amended by 

 reducing pears (green), in boxes or barrels, 

 from first-class to third-class in less than car- 

 loads, and from third to fifth class in carloads; 

 also that apples (green), in boxes, which are at 

 present second-class in less than carloads nd 

 fifth-class in carloads, be made third-class in 

 less than carloads and fifth-class in carloads, 

 thus making the classification of apples and 

 pears in boxes or barrels uniform. 



(b) That fruit described in the current Cana- 

 dian freight classification as " fruit, fresh," be 

 carried in baskets, boxes or crates, viz : Be- 

 tween all stations in Ontario, east of Sault Ste. 

 Marie and Fort William, and between all sta- 



tions in Quebec, and interprovincially between 

 Ontario and Quebec, also from stations in On- 

 tario and Quebec to stations in New Brunswick 

 and Nova Scotia, at fourth-class rates in car- 

 loads of not less than 20,000 pounds, instead of 

 third-class, as at present, and at second-class 

 rates in less than carloads of 10,000 pounds or 

 over, instead of first-class, as at present. Also 

 from stations in Ontario and Quebec to Winni- 

 peg, Portage la Prairie and Brandon, at fourth- 

 class rates, in carloads of not less than 20,000 

 pounds, instead of at third-class, as at present. 



It is understood in all cases that the total 

 charges on a smaller lot shall not be greater 

 than the total charges on a larger lot at the next 

 lower rate, as indicated above. 



(c) With respect to the charge made by the 

 railways for refrigerating shipments in transit, 

 it is ordered that the average actual cost of the 

 ice and the placing thereof in the cars shall not 

 be exceeded, and that, pending a decision by the 

 board as to a reasonable charge for such ser- 

 vice,the charge for refrigeration shall not be 

 more than $2.50 per ton of 2,000 pounds on the 

 actual weight of the ice supplied. 



Shipping Fruit. — In shipping our fruit we 

 must have a commission market for our sur- 

 plus. When shipping on order, wie can never 

 tell just how fast the fruit is going to ripen. 

 One day a large amount may be ready for mar- 

 ket, while the next day there will be a shortage. 

 If we ship more goods than the order calls for 

 the buyer sometimes cuts the price. If buyers 

 would order less frequently and give larger or- 

 ders it would be possible for shippers to obtain 

 lower transportation rates and make quicker 

 s'hipments. — (Robert Thompson, St. Catharines, 

 Ont. 



No Opening for Ontario Fruit. — I do not think 

 Ontario fruit can be sold in British Columbia at 

 all. Transportation is against it, and besides 

 there is a large quantity of fruit raised here. 

 Some fruit is imported from the states of Wash- 

 ington, Oregon and California, while Australia 

 sends some too. — (H. Atkinson, Summerland, 

 B. C. 



Lack of knowledge how to care for orchards, 

 scarcity of labor, no organized system of pack- 

 ing and selling, and distance from station are 

 all against us in attaining success in fruit grow- 

 ing. — (S. J. Hughson, Durham Co., Ont. 



490 



