586 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



As would be expected, the early efforts in fruit refrigeration on the 

 ocean were made in connection with the export trade in ice from the 

 New England states early in the last century. This trade carried 

 American apples literally "on ice," first to the West Indies, later to 

 the more important tropical maritime cities of the globe, including 

 those of India, China, and Australia. It never attained large pro- 

 portions, however, owing to the excessive prices at which fruit thus 

 transported must be sold to yield profit to the shipper. 



Shipments of fruit in mechanical refrigeration on steamers do not 

 appear to have been made until after the Australian meat trade, 

 which began in 1880, was well established. 



The trade is yet limited to apples, pears, oranges, though some 

 shipments of grapes have gone through in sound condition. In this 

 connection it should be noted that in 1893, at the Columbian Exposi- 

 tion at Chicago, the New South Wales exhibit contained a collection 

 of ten varieties of apples, together with oranges and lemons, for- 

 warded to Chicago in two lots, one via San Francisco, which was 

 fifty-two days in transit, and the other via New York, which was 

 several days longer. These exhibits demonstrated in a manner most 

 convincing the usefulness and the possibilities of refrigeration in fruit 

 forwarding as developed in Australia. 



In the spring of 1892 experimental carload lots of tomatoes from 

 Florida were shipped to England. Later in the season five shipments 

 of California peaches, pears, and plums, aggregating twenty-four car- 

 loads of 20,000 pounds each, were forwarded to Liverpool from New 

 York. These shipments were made in refrigerated compartments 

 containing four or five carloads each, the latter quantity being required 

 to fill a compartment. The departure of the fruit from California was 

 timed to correspond with the sailing date of the ship for which it was 

 destined, and the total time from shipping point to Liverpool and 

 London was seventeen to eighteen days. The gross sales of the 

 twenty-four carloads amounted to about $32,000, but the heavy 

 expense of forwarding by this method left no profit to the shippers. 

 With a good deal of fluctuation, these export shipments of summer 

 fruits have continued from year to year, however, and they show a 

 gradual growth. Longer experience in handling has made it possible 

 to deliver peaches, pears, and plums from California in London in 

 sound condition, almost without failure. The uncertain question from 

 the commercial standpoint now is the condition of the market on 

 arrival. If bare of English and French fruits, prices sufficiently high 



