230 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 



A fruit shipping plaitform at a railway station in the Niagara district. Note the light style of 



dray In the foreground. 



ped by freiprht and re-shipped by ex- 

 press to small points in Alberta, or a 

 similar distribution of British Columbia 

 cherries may be given in Manitoba, al- 

 though it would be foolish for the two 

 districts to over-lap distributing ter- 

 ritories. But as far as the physical 

 condition of the cherries is concerned 

 there is not a reason why all prairie 

 points cannot be supplied with freight- 

 hauled and moderate priced cherries if 

 they are properly handled and ship- 

 ped. 



A Great Demand. 



To illustrate the wonderfully large 

 demand for moderate-priced cherries 

 attention should be called to a large 

 retail store in Winnipeg that bought an 

 entire car of exceptionally good pre- 

 cooled Montmorency cherries and had 

 a sale of the entire lot at 50c. per 6-pt. 

 basket (eight pounds). So eager were 

 the Winnipeg people to buy the fruit 

 that the whole shipment of 2,333 

 baskets was sold in thirty minutes. 



The sour cherry is a fruit that will 

 stand a low temperature without in- 

 jury. In general practice we do not 

 use a temperature below thirty de- 

 grees to precool carload lots. How- 

 ever, our investigations show that no 

 injury comes from subjecting the 

 fruit to seventeen degrees for cooling, 

 providing cooling is stopped before the 

 temperature of the fruit reaches 

 thirty-two degrees. By precooling to 

 forty degrees and maintaining that 

 temperature during transit the cherry 

 may be shipped in splendid condition 

 for ten or twelve days. If a 

 temperature of thirty-two degrees 

 could be maintained in our refrigerator 

 cars cherries would stand freight ship- 

 ment for two weeks. At the end of 

 this time all cherries having stem,s out 



or that have been bruised in any way 

 in packing will be discolored and upon 

 close inspection counted as waste. 

 This emphasizes the great care that 

 must be used in harvesting cherries for 

 long-distance shipments, since as little 

 handling as possible must be used, and 

 for this reason we advocate the pick- 

 ing of the cherries directly in the 

 shipping baskets. 



When precooling cherries care must 

 be used in selecting the refrigerator 

 cars that the fruit is to be shipped in. 

 Our experience would not warrant the 

 shipping of precooled cherries in the 

 "Brine tank" type of refrigerator car 

 without the use of salt, and our work 

 has not proceeded far enough as yet to 

 advocate the use of salt -with fruit 

 shipments. Even though the fruit has 

 been cooled to thirty-eight degrees be- 

 fore shipping much difficulty has been 

 experienced in keeping the temperature 

 of the Brine Tank refrigerator cars 

 below fifty degrees during transit. 



What has been said about sour cher- 

 ries applies to a certain measure to 

 sweet varieties, although these var- 

 ieties will not stand the same length of 

 shipment that sour varieties do. There 

 is also a greater difference between the 

 carrying characteristics of the sweet 

 sorts than there is between the sours. 

 Our investigations during the past 

 year have proved that sweet varieties 

 such as the Black Tartarian, Windsor, 

 Bing or similar kinds may be pre- 

 cooled and shipped by freight for 1,300 

 miles. 



The question that is asked more fre- 

 quently than any other relating to the 

 subject under discussion is "How will 

 precooled cherries behave on the 

 market?" It will be easy for the 

 reader to realize that a cherry that has 



been picked for ten days, even though 

 it has been under refrigeration, will 

 not be in the firm, resistant condition 

 that a fruit that has just been picked 

 from the tree. Ripening processes 

 have been taking place slowly but 

 surely. However, the fruit will not 

 peri.sh immediately upon being remov- 

 ed from the refrigerator car into the 

 \varm air. At first there is a rapid 

 condensation of moisture on the sur- 

 face of the fruit, (not so heavy on the 

 prairies as in the east on account of 

 the low relative humidity of the air in 

 the west). This gradually disappears, 

 but the moisture has helped to germin- 

 ate mold spores. During the day that 

 it is being unloaded and distributed 

 the cherries remain in good condition 

 without much sign of change. After 

 twenty-four hours from the car or on 

 the following morning the fruit will 

 appear in as good a condition, but upon 

 careful examination will show dis- 

 colored spots, especially where it has 

 been bruised. After thirtj^-six hours 

 the discolored spots commence to in- 

 dicate decay, which begins to be seri- 

 ous after two days. This gives the fruit 

 time for distribution, but means that 

 no time can be wasted in the sale of 

 fruit that has been picked so long. 



Frost Thermometers 



M. B. Davis, B.S.A., Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



Many nights, in the spring and fall, 

 frosts threaten, which do not actually 

 arrive; or, if they do, only come in 

 local areas. It is very difficult for 

 any person to foretell whether a frost 

 will actually come or not; so that the 

 only way to be on the safe side would 

 be to supplement by the addition of 

 a frost alarm. The frost alarm ther- 

 mometers are accurate and reliable, 

 and are simple in construction. Where 

 a thermometer is used it should be 

 placed in a cold part of the farm where 

 frosts generally strike, and it should 

 not be more than 900 feet from the bat- 

 tery box. The two wires are then led 

 from the battery to the thermometer. 



The alarm thermometer is a specially 

 made instrument, with a fine platinum 

 wire fused into the bore of the tube 

 connecting with the mercury column 

 at 32 degrees F., or any other one per- 

 manent point desirea. A second wire, 

 touching the mercury at a point beloAV 

 the other, completes a circuit, which is 

 broken the instant the mercury drops 

 below the designated danger point — 

 the permanent point referred to above. 

 A non-sparking special relay battery 

 attachment causes a bell to ring at 

 practically any distance from the ther- 

 mometer itself the moment the circuit 

 is broken. Until the alarm rings the 

 danger is not imminent, and all unne- 

 cessary expense of lighting fire pots 

 in the orchard may be spared. 



