APPENDIX 211 



so much importance that they do not care to trust the reputa- 

 tion of their cars to inexperienced men. The important points 

 to secure in loading are, first, that the paciiages be so spaced 

 that the cold air has immediate access to all sides of them, 

 and, second, that they be so secured that the load can not 

 shift by the bumping of the cars while in transit. These points 

 are usually secured by piling the crates, or other packages, 

 one above another in tiers or ranks, from three to six inches 

 apart, and with lath or strips between each layer. Strips are 

 placed upright against the end of the car, and a row of 

 packages is placed on the floor, with the ends set snugly 

 against these strips and carefully spaced. Light half-inch 

 strips, as long as the width of the car, are placed across the 

 ends of the packages, and the front one is nailed down, with 

 a light nail, to the head of each package to prevent side shift- 

 ing. Another row of packages is placed on these strips, each 

 one directly above one in the lower row. These are again 

 stripped and nailed, and so on to the top. The next course is 

 placed with the ends snugly against the ends of the first 

 course, so that the air spaces are continuous. When the cen- 

 ter of the car is reached, begin in the other end and load in 

 the same way. A space will usually be left at the last, too 

 narrow to admit another course of packages; and the car 

 must now be braced to prevent the courses from shifting end- 

 wise. Pieces of i x 6 inch board are set up against the ends 

 of each rank of packages, and other strips are nailed across 

 these uprights, near the bottom and the top of the car. The 

 distance between these opposite cross-pieces is now carefully 

 measured, and pieces of board are cut for braces about an 

 inch longer than this space, so that they will have to be driven 

 home with considerable force. The braces are toe-nailed in 

 place, to prevent their falling, if they should chance to loosen 

 in the bumping of the car. When thus loaded and braced, the 

 contents are absolutely immovable, yet each package is sepa- 

 rated from its neighbors, on all sides, by a layer of cold air, 

 which, when it becomes warmed by the hot fruit, rises, and is 

 carried by the currents thus generated to the ice, where it is 

 quickly cooled again, and where it deposits the moisture that 



