200 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



September, 1909 



The Prc-cooling of Fruit for Shipment 



EXPERIMENTS conducted by the de- 

 partments of agriculture of Canada 

 and the United States show conclus- 

 ively that fruit should be cooled be- 

 fore shipment. The fruit should be 

 placed in the storage room or in 

 refrigerator cars with the least possible 

 delay after picking. Unless this is done, 

 the full benefits of cold storage facilities on 

 board ship are not secured. At the last con- 

 vention of the Ontario Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation, Mr. J. A. Ruddick, Dairy and 

 Cold Storage Commissioner, Ottawa, direct- 

 ed attention to the importance of this point 

 in an address on our export trade in early 

 apples and tender fruits. In the course of 

 the address, he said, "In nine cases out of 

 ten when fruit reaches its destination in 

 bad condition, it is because it had not been 

 delivered to the transportation companies 

 in fit condition to carry safely." On being 

 asked if apples should be placed in cold 



had to be removed, and the heat which 

 was generated while the fruit was ripening 

 at that rapid rate had also to be removed. 

 "The refrigeration of fruit is a very diff- 

 erent thing to the refrigeration of butter, 

 where you can put the temperature down 

 as low as you like; but if you put on sufi5- 

 cient refrigeration to put the temperature 

 down quickly you would have the cpld air 

 coming into the chamber far below freezing 

 point, consequently freezing the fruit which 

 it immediately came into contact with. The 

 engineer has, therefore, that diflBculty to 

 contend with, that he cannot use the full 

 power of his refrigerating macBine in a 

 chamber used for chilling fruit. He is 

 aware of the critical temperature, about 

 32 degrees, and that it is not safe to have 

 cold air coming in at a lower point. If he 

 were trying to chill a chamber filled with 

 butter or meats or any frozen goods, it 

 would not make any difference ; he could 



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Diagrams that Illustrate the Value of Cooling Fruit Before Shipment 



storage before being packed, Mr. Ruddick 

 said, "If you pack warm apples in barrels 

 and put them in cold storage, it takes a 

 longer time to cool them down than it would 

 if they were in open packages. Cold fruit 

 does not bruise as readily in packing as 

 warm fruit does, and that is also a con- 

 sideration." 



In his evidence before the Select Stand- 

 ing Committee on Agriculture and Colon- 

 ization at Ottawa, Mr. Ruddick further 

 emphasized the importance of having the 

 fruit properly cooled before it is placed on 

 board the steamer. He exhibited illustra- 

 tions of two thermograph records (as shown 

 on this page) of shipments made on the 

 8.S. "Ionian" last September. 



In pointing out the lessons to be learned 

 from these records, Mr. Ruddick said, "The 

 temperature of the room in which the fruit 

 V as cooled before being put into the chamb- 

 B s, went right down to 36 degrees and ran 

 fairly even throughout the voyage. In the 

 other, the temperature started at 60 de- 

 grees, and it was four days before it was 

 down to 40 degrees. The heat in the fruit 



then put on the full power of his machine. 

 That is why it is so difficult to manage the 

 chilling of fruit. This shows the importance 

 of having the fruit cooled before it is 

 placed in a chamber like the cold storage 

 chamber on the steamship." 



A study of the foregoing remarks and 

 of the accompanying illustrations should 

 convince fruit growers and shippers. No 

 refrigerator car yet constructed can give 

 quick refrigeration and no cold storage 

 chamber on a ship can do so without in- 

 juring the fruit. The Dominion Department 

 of Agriculture intends to continue its as- 

 sistance to fruit growers in this matter and 

 in affording facilities for the ocean carriage 

 o ffruit in small quantities. The announce- 

 ment appears in the August issue of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



Cold Storage For Apples. — Attention is 

 directed to the space facing our first read- 

 ing page, taken by ad. of the New Bruns- 

 wick Cold Storage Company, Limited, St. 

 John, N.B. There are few businesses which 

 may be expected to appeal so readily to the 



apple exporter. Space should be arranged 

 for well in advance. These people can take 

 only 50,000 barrels, and that is a small part 

 of a good crop. Stock should be sent di- 

 rect from the orchard. Arrange exactly 

 how you want your goods stored, whether 

 by season or the month. Give specific di- 

 rections as to your stowage, whether on 

 heads, face down, or bilge, or on bottom 

 with heads removed. Parties who have test- 

 ed the St. John house have only good words, 

 for the facilities offered, and good foremen 

 can easily get plenty of help, with one or 

 two years' experience as packers, resident 

 in the winter port. Parties shipping boxed 

 apples will find mills turning out an excel- 

 lent article right at the storage doors in 

 St. John. As shipments from this house 

 may be routed direct to London, Liverpool, 

 Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast, Bristol, 

 Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg or Capet-Dwn, 

 little is left to be desired as to accommo- 

 dations. All the Montreal lines run to St. 

 John in winter. 



Ontario Horticultural Exhibition 



p. W. Hodgetts, Secretary, Toronto 



The Ontaria Horticultural Exhibition will 

 be held this year in the St. Lawrence Mar- 

 ket Arena, Toronto, November 9 to 13. An 

 entire change will be made in the interior 

 plan of decorations and the placing of the 

 various products which go to make up this 

 magnificent show. Present plans are to have 

 a central aisle leading from the main door 

 right through to the rear of the hall, mak- 

 ing the arches overhead gradually smaller 

 so as to apparently increase the length of 

 hhis aisle. 



Among special exhibits will be single 

 specimens of our four leading varieties of 

 apples, namely, the Spy, Baldwin, Green- 

 ing and King, for which the big prize of 

 $10.00 will be offered in each case. These 

 have been donated by prominent men in the 

 horticultural world in Ontario. 



Special arrangements are also being made 

 for a large exhibit of all kinds of orchard 

 implements, spraying mixtures, etc., both 

 from the United States and Canada. The 

 Canadian Horticulturist has kindly donat- 

 ed a full-page advertisement which is to 

 be divided into two prizes for the best new 

 inventions for orchard and for garden use. 



With a more favorable year the present 

 season than last, the commercial florists ex- 

 pect to put up one of the best exhibits of 

 'mums, roses and other flowers that has ever 

 been seen in Toronto. The floral arches will 

 be a special feature of their creation. Al- 

 together the show promises already to ex- 

 ceed in beauty and also in utility any of 

 the previous exhibitions. The prize lists 

 are now printed and copies may be obtained 

 from the secretary. Parliament Buildings, 

 Toronto. 



Photographs of fruit harvesting scenes 

 are wanted for use in The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. 



The engravings on pages 192 and 193 were 

 loaned from the report of the Horticultural 

 Societies of Ontario, by Mr. J. Lockie Wil- 

 son. The photographs from which they 

 were made were furnished by Rev A. H. 

 Scott, Perth, Ont. 



To harvest the fruit crop easily and la- 

 pidly, it is necessary to have strong lad- 

 ders. It is bad policy to use clumsy lad- 

 ders, such as usually are made at home. A 

 ladder that will give satisfaction is the 

 "Perfect" fruit step ladder. Read the ad- 

 vertisement of the Stratford M'fg Co., 

 Stratford, Ont., that appears on another 

 page of this issue. 



