HAXDLIXG LETTUCE AND CELERY. 23 



COST OF PRECOOLING AND INITIAL ICING COMPARED WITH REGULAR ICING. 



Attention must be called to the fact previously mentioned that 

 the precooled car was handled under initial icing only. The charges 

 on this car, aside from the regular transportation rate, were about 

 $22 for ice, $7.50 special charge for the use of the car, ice tanks, 

 etc., and $2 switching charges, 1 amounting to $31.50. In addition, 

 the actual cost of precooling a car of celery is estimated at not more 

 than $20. 2 This gives a total of .$51.50 refrigeration charges on the 

 precooled car. The full icing charge ordinarily paid amounts to $65. 

 The experiment indicated, therefore, that by precooling and initial 

 icing during the cooler weather not only better refrigeration could 

 be obtained but also at a lower cost than by regular icing alone. 

 The precooled car referred to arrived at its destination with the ice 

 bunkers about one- third full. Two-thirds of the ice had melted, 

 therefore, even during the comparatively cool weather in which it was 

 shipped. Later shipments arrived on the market with very little 

 ice remaining in the bunkers. To insure the best results in the 

 warmest weather, it would seem advisable to reice the cars once 

 while in transit. 



OUTLINE OF CELERY-STORAGE EXPERIMENTS. 



It was thought desirable to determine the effect of precooling 

 not only upon the condition of the celery on its arrival at the market 

 but also upon its storage qualities. Eight shipments therefore were 

 made during the months of April and May, which mark the latter 

 part of the celery-shipping season in Florida. Forty-eight experi- 

 mental crates were included in each shipment. Half of these were 

 in the precooled car and half in the nonprecooled car. Each lot 

 was again divided, half being placed in the center of the car and ' 

 half in the bunker end. Six crates from each of these lots were 

 placed on the floor and six in the top layer. Thus the experimental 

 crates in each shipment were exposed to the extremes of temperature 

 in various parts of the car. All were shipped to New York City 

 and upon arrival were placed in cold storage and held at a tempera- 

 ture of 32° F. An inspection of one-half of each shipment was made 

 at the end of two weeks and of the remaining half at the end of 

 four weeks. 



STORAGE TROUBLES. 



It was found that two serious diseases developed in the stored 

 celery from Florida. These were designated as soft-rot and heart- 

 rot. The soft-rot is somewhat similar in its development to the 



1 Precooling Tariff I. C. C. No. A3460. 



2 This estimate might be too low in the case of a small plant that is only run for a short time. In other 

 cases probably it would be too high, as much depends upon the size of the precooling plant and the number 

 of cars cooled. 



