Refrigerator Cars. 467 



it may pay to ship in iced cars, particularly if the 

 weather is very warm. In shipping fruit in iced 

 cars, it is important to know that the car should 

 be iced some time in advance of its receiving the 

 fruit. This is for the purpose of completely cool- 

 ing off the car. The ice should be put in at least 

 six hours in advance of the loading, if possible, and 

 a longer time is very often advisable. The trans- 

 portation companies should be notified in advance of 

 the number and route of the cars which are ship- 

 ping, in order that the ice may be renewed at the 

 necessary intervals. It may be said, also, that the 

 car should not be completely filled with fruit. The 

 upper part of the car is apt to be very hot, 

 especially in summer, and if space is left above 

 the fruit there is better opportunity for ventilation. 

 About three hundred bushels of fruit in bushel 

 packages should be the limit of the amount in any 

 one car. 



Earle writes* as follows upon shipping in re- 

 frigerated cars : 



"Many difficulties and much prejudice were formerly en- 

 countered in shipping fruits under refrigoration. Dealers and 

 buyers were afraid to handle fruits that had been on ice, 

 claiming that they would melt down and spoil as soon as 

 they were removed to the warmer air. This belief was wide- 

 spread ar 1 deeply seated, and it has taken much time and 

 many practical demonstrations to fully convince the trade of 

 its falsity. It probably originated in attempts to save fruit 

 that was already over-ripe, and on the verge of spoiJing, by 

 placing it in the ice-box. Such fruit will be preserved for 



*F. S Earle, Bull. 79, Ala. Exp. Sta. 



