100 GARDEN FARMING 



The railways operate " pick-up " trains through the territory. By 

 this means shippers having a few packages for the different mar- 

 kets get their products quickly handled ; for as soon as a car is 

 loaded for any particular point, it is iced, sealed, and placed in 

 a fast freight for its destination. By this method of shipping, 

 growers can so plan their crop rotation as to obtain a much wider 

 distribution of their products than has heretofore been possible. 

 Such cooperation will make it practicable to ship mixed cars, under 

 refrigeration, to distant points other than the few large centers 

 which now enjoy quick freight service. 



Importance of proper packing. It is impossible to give any 

 statistics showing the influence of the proper packing of vegetables 

 upon' the whole industry, but the author wishes to call attention to 

 a paragraph 'from " Perishable Goods," a part of the proceedings 

 of the International Railway Congress held at Berne in 1910. 

 This report deals not only with vegetables but with other perishable 



products, such as dressed meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, etc. 



i 



The highest state of perfection in the transportation of perishable property 

 is wasted effort in the absence of proper preparation for its shipment, and 

 proper facilities for its receipt and distribution at destination. The carrier 

 has the same ground for expecting the profit-taking shipper of perishable 

 freight to adequately prepare and deliver his goods for transportation as exists 

 in the case of the shipper of ordinary merchandise. i. 



This is a most significant paragraph, for it shows clearly that 

 unless perishable products which are to be transported long dis- 

 tances are carefully grown, properly . harvested and packed, and 

 offered in suitable packages to the transportation company, satis- 

 factory transit cannot be secured, no matter how well equipped the 

 common carrier may be for doing the work or how carefully the 

 products may be handled in transit. The preservation of food 

 products en route is of greater importance than accelerated trans- 

 portation, since it is clear that where long distances- are to be 

 traversed the most rapid handling practicable will not prevent the de- 

 terioration, of highly perishable products. The multiplication of the 

 organisms which set up fermentation and decay is most effectively 

 checked by low temperatures. Temperatures below 50 F. cause 

 decided inactivity on the part of all putrefactive organisms. The 

 shipment of perishable products under refrigeration, therefore, is 



