MARKET PREPARATION, TRANSPORT AT ION .STORAGE 267 



TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE 



Transportation includes shipping, cooling, refrigerating, 

 railway hauling, switching, and unloading; to this is added 

 storing of the fruit if it is to be held for out-of -season sale. 

 At the present time, transportation of crops to market almost 

 always includes a trip by railroad or boat. Fruits shipped 

 from country districts to near-by markets do not require the 

 special care which is necessary in long-distance transportation. 



379. The railroad. The growth of the fruit industry in 

 the United States has been made possible by the develop- 

 ment of the railroad. The first trans-continental road was 

 completed in 1869. Others quickly followed. They were 

 built in advance of the needs of the day, but they unquestion- 

 ably played a large part in hastening the development of the 

 country. Certainly the growth of the fruit industry in the 

 West and Middle West would have been absolutely out of the 

 question had it not been for transportation facilities thus 

 afforded. At first fruit was shipped in small quantities; now 

 a large proportion of the shipments is in carload or trainload 

 lot s . Some of the roads run regular trains which carry nothing 

 but fruit and which have the right of way over all other 

 types of service, including in some cases even passenger 

 trains. The volume of fruit and vegetable business handled 

 by railroads has now reached enormous proportions. 



380. The time element. After the grower, the picker, the 

 teamster, the grader, the packer, and the car-loader has each 

 done his part hi preparing the fruits for transit or storage, the 

 conditions under which the product is held have an important 

 influence on its keeping qualities. The time required to 

 transport the packed fruit to market varies from a few days 

 to as long as three weeks, during which a very considerable 

 deterioration may occur unless special conditions are pro- 

 vided to prevent it. The time element is most important for 

 the soft and quick-ripening fruits such as berries, cherries, 



