TRANSPORTATION 



TRANSPORTATION 



3369 



even more careful handling to avoid bruising and to 

 preserve the skin of the fruit in a sound unbroken 

 condition through all the operations of picking, hauling, 

 and packing. Peaches are very commonly injured 

 through the pickers exerting too great pressure with the 

 thumb or other fingers when removing the fruit from 

 the tree, by rough handling in loading, and bruising in 

 the various operations of grading and packing. While 

 sizers or graders have been used to a considerable extent 

 in the handling of peaches, most of the graders now in 

 use afford too many opportunities for injury to be 

 universally recommended in the handling of such crops. 

 In red raspberries, for example, the most serious decay 

 results from too great pressure on the berry when 

 removing it from the core. The use of three fingers 

 instead of two minimizes the pressure and danger of 

 injury. The inclusion of over-ripe berries in cups or 

 crates intended for long-distance shipment is also a 

 very prolific source of decay. The marketing or dis- 

 tributing zone of such fruits and berries can be extended 

 by several thousand miles by the exercise of a little 



3835. Icing cars (at the top) at one of the stations of the Fruit 

 Express, Georgia. 



more care in picking and grading. In grapes the most 

 serious injuries result from the loosening of the berry 

 from the pedicel, and it requires the most careful hand- 

 ling, both in picking and packing, to avoid this type of 

 injury which is chiefly responsible for the frequent 

 excessive decay occurring in transportation. 



Careful handling involves the exercise of thoughtful- 

 ness in the manipulation of the fruit from tree to car in 

 order to preserve the skin of the fruit in an unbroken 

 sound condition. It necessitates the most careful 

 supervision of labor. It means simple and the minimum 

 amount of machinery for washing, drying, sizing or 

 grading, and constant attention to keep it clean and 

 in perfect order. The whole handling problem is an 

 economic one related to systems of both hiring and 

 supervising labor. In citrous states cooperative 

 associations have found it necessary to take over the 

 field handling as well as the packing-house handling to 

 insure uniformity of careful work. Where each grower 

 does his own picking, the bad handling of one nullifies, 

 to a large extent, the good work of the other, especially 

 if the fruit from the different growers is pooled and 

 shipped in the same cars. The success of this method 

 of cooperative handling depends largely on having 

 the right kind of manager and foreman, men who not 

 only know what careful handling is and means, but who 

 can secure such work from every man in the organiza- 

 tion having anything to do with the physical handling 

 of the fruit. The system of paying labor is largely 

 responsible for carelessness in handling and decay in 



transit. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on quality 

 as the tendency is at present decidedly in the direction 

 of attaching too much importance to quantity. Quan- 

 tity at the expense of quality is poor economy in the 

 handling of any perishable fruit crop. 



There is considerable question and argument as 

 regards the best picking-receptacle, particularly as to 

 whether picking-sacks or -bags are preferable to pails 

 or baskets or other similar containers. For citrous 

 fruits, and other hard thick-skinned deciduous fruits, 

 canvas picking -bags are usually preferable. Peaches 

 and other thin-skinned fruits, that are very liable to 

 injury by the rubbing of one fruit against another, 

 ought to be picked in receptacles with rigid sides. In 

 such receptacles the fruits will not be subjected to more 

 or less rubbing against one another as they would be 

 in a picking-bag where every fruit necessarily moves 

 somewhat with the movement of the picker. 



Quickness and promptness of cooling. 



Next to care exercised in the physical handling of the 

 fruit, temperature is the most important factor in 

 determining the life-span of the fruit. The question of 

 temperature in the handling of fruits for transporta- 

 tion is related primarily to the promptness and rapidity 

 with which the produce is cooled and the maintenance 

 of low temperatures in transit. Most of the fruits 

 and vegetables are harvested during periods of high 

 temperatures. The physiological and chemical changes 

 that constitute ripening proceed very rapidly 

 at high temperatures and but very slowly at 

 temperatures slightly above freezing. High 

 temperatures shorten the life-span of the 

 fruit, both through rapid ripening and the 

 rapid development and growth of decay-pro- 

 ducing organisms. The low temperatures 

 retard the ripening processes as well as the 

 germination and growth of fungi causing 

 decay. It is, therefore, of the greatest impor- 

 tance that the produce be cooled as promptly 

 and quickly as possible after removal from 

 the tree or field. Delay of a few hours of the 

 more quick-ripening fruits after harvesting in 

 the field or packing-house during the heat of 

 the day may mean the shortening of the normal 

 Hf e-span of such fruits by days. Prompt cooling 

 is essential, whether this is accomplished by precooling 

 before shipment or slower cooling in a refrigerator car. 

 Advantage also may be taken of cool night tempera- 

 tures by allowing the fruit to remain unpacked out hi 

 the open over night and packed later in the cool of the 

 morning. More cooling can usually be accomplished 

 this way over night than in a whole day in a refrig- 

 erator car, especially if the fruit is wrappea and tightly 

 packed. 



Precooling. 



The prompt quick cooling of produce prior to ship- 

 ment has been termed "precooling." It is usually 

 accomplished by mechanical means in warehouse 

 plants before loading in cars, or in car-precooling plants 

 after loading. In the latter case the precooling is 

 accomplished by forcing large volumes of cold air 

 through the load in the car. More recently smaller 

 warehouse plants have been built and successfully 

 operated using ice and salt for refrigeration. As to 

 which system is the best is still more or less of an open 

 question and depends largely on local conditions. Ware- 

 house plants have the advantage in so far as the 

 cooling of the produce can be commenced immediately 

 after packing without any delay. The cooling is usually 

 more uniform and very often the plants are used as 

 warehouses to hold fruits and vegetables in good con- 

 dition for considerable periods when, on account of 

 market conditions, or for any other reason, it is desira- 

 ble to do so. Mechanically cooled warehouse-preccoling 



Growers 



