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when the cooling has been sufficiently performed and when the refrigerator cars 

 are properly constructed so as to maintain the temperature at a reasonably 

 uniform state. 



This process is attracting a great deal of attention at the present time 

 wherever tender fruits are produced in quantities, and no doubt will be tried out 

 in Canada before very long. Should it prove successful, one of the very serious 

 problems in connection with the successful transportation of tender fruits, will 

 have been solved. Further experiments in this connection will therefore be 

 watched with great interest. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



Some of the more important fruit-producing sections of Canada are not only 

 separated from each other by considerable distances, but are so situated that the 

 bulk of the output must be transported by rail or boat to the ultimate market. 

 For this reason the transportation of fruit has always been an important matter 

 for thought and discussion whenever fruitgrowers have met to devise means for 

 improving their position and circumstances. 



In this respect considerable progress has been made. The large transpor- 

 tation companies now look upon the fruit trade as an important branch of their 

 business and while little attention was paid to the offerings of fruit a few years 

 ago, a keen rivalry amongst the parties interested is now in evidence wherever 

 competitive conditions make it necessary. This situation has contributed largely 

 to an amelioration of many of the difficulties under which fruit was formerly 

 handled, assisted as it has been by the Department of Agriculture, and the 

 sympathetic attitude of the Board of Railway Commissioners, the appointment 

 of whom, by the way, was first advocated by the fruitgrowers of Ontario. 



While conditions are not by any means ideal, while many matters require 

 further consideration, and while the service will admit of great improvement in 

 many ways, it must be freely recognized that the carriage of fruit has undergone 

 very great improvement in recent years. Much, however, remains to be done. 

 There is a lamentable lack of suitable equipment for the handling of fruit, both 

 by freight and express. Cars that are equipped with proper means of ventila- 

 tion are few and far between. Many of the refrigerator cars that are supplied 

 are antiquated, out of repair, and utterly unable to perform the efficient service 

 required of them, and it often happens that loss and damage result. through 

 inability of the companies to supply sufficient cars of any type to take care of 

 the trade at critical seasons of the year. 



Terminal facilities in some of the large centres are entirely inadequate for 

 the prompt and efficient delivery of cars at points of destination, thus causing 

 considerable delay in the discharge of tender fruits and frequently resulting in 

 serious loss to the shipper. 



Another difficulty that frequently arises, more especially with long-distance 

 shipments, is undue delay in transit, cars being detained so long on the road 

 that their contents, if not totally destroyed, have become seriously damaged. 

 In regard to this, a time schedule of so many miles per hour has been suggested, 

 which, if not maintained, should place the onus on the company falling down, 

 if loss and damage resulted. This would appear to be a fair and reasonable 

 solution of this feature of the problem. 



With reference to shipments of fruit by the express service, there has been 

 a controversy for many years between the express companies and the fruit 

 shippers and at times feeling has run high between the interested parties. This 

 service is indispensable for the prompt and efficient handling of fruit, more 

 especially the smaller fruits and those which require immediate consumption 

 during the summer months. The carriage of fruit during the season is an 

 extremely important and profitable part of the express companies' business, 

 demanding a large increase in the regular staff, and the running of numerous 



