Heavy Loading of Northwestern Apples 9 



Various other temporary insulation materials and methods have 

 been used, such as straw in place of shavings, building paper, and a 

 combination of paper sheathing and air spaces. All temporary insula- 

 tion of box cars is expensive and provides uncertain protection. 



In heating box cars the best results are obtained by placing the 

 stove in the center of the car and providing an air passage about the 

 fruit inside the temporary insulation. It is especially important that 

 provision be made at the floor and at the ends of the load for the 

 circulation of the heated air. 



CONDITION UPON MARKET ARRIVAL 



Inspections were made during the shipping season in Minneapolis, 

 Chicago, and New York, to determine the effect of heavy loading 

 upon the fruit and upon the condition of the packages when unloaded. 

 The Minneapolis and Chicago inspections indicated no apparent 

 injury to the fruit when loaded six boxes high, but serious shifting 

 and breakage was reported. Of 27 box cars inspected, six were 

 frozen, and one was overripe. Cars loaded through the center with- 

 out bracing were subject to freezing about the doors. Out of 86 

 cars inspected, 17 loads had shifted, 10 of them because of poor and 

 insufficient car stripping. Loading on 2" x 4" or 2" x 2" strips 

 resulted in damage, as the boxes tilted or slipped off of the strips. 



The New York inspections constitute a more comprehensive test 

 on account of the accumulated effect of the longer period in transit. 

 The average time in transit for the 58 cars from the State of Wash- 

 ington was 24.3 days; six cars from California, 20.8 days; nine cars 

 from Idaho, 19 days; seven cars from Oregon, 20.3 days. Out of 

 66 refrigerator cars inspected, nine arrived with contents overripe, 

 seven of these cars were loaded six boxes high, with Jonathan, Winter 

 Banana, and Spitzenberg varieties shipped under ventilation late in 

 the season. Since the temperatures in transit (fig. 2) are very nearly 

 the same in heavy and light loads shipped under ventilation, the over- 

 ripeness found cannot be attributed to overloading. Nine out of the 

 14 box cars inspected contained fruit overripe: one had been frozen. 



EXCESSIVE BREAKAGE CAUSED BY POOR LOADING METHODS 



The additional journey from Chicago to New York resulted in an 

 increased breakage which presents striking evidence in support of the 

 Chicago-Minneapolis report and emphasizes the fact that better 

 methods must be used in carloading, especially with heavy loads and 

 box cars. In the 80 cars inspected, an average of 50 broken boxes 

 per car was found. This breakage was much greater in the heavy 

 j loads than in the light loads, and was greater in the box cars than 

 in the refrigerator cars. (See fig. 5.) 



