468 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 
some time, if kept cold enough, for cold arrests the growth 
of the organisms of deeay. The deeay is only arrested, how- 
ever, for these organisms are not killed by the cold, and as 
soon as such fruit is again brought into a warm atmosphere 
they rapidly complete its destruction. If, however, the fruit 
is taken from the field at the proper stage of maturity, and 
is placed at onee in a refrigerator car, the cold prevents the 
beginning of ineipient decay; and the fruit will arrive at 
its destination in a condition to keep almost as long after 
taking it from the car as it would have kept in the open 
air at the time it was picked. Strawberries must be in the 
best possible condition, and the weather not too hot, for them 
to stand thirty-six hours’ transportation by express; or, in 
other words, for them to reach market in good condition on 
the second morning after picking. In the writer’s experience, 
strawberries have been repeatedly sent from southern Illinois 
to Detroit, a three-days’ run, by refrigerator freight, and have 
been successfully reshipped by express to Canadian points that 
were not reached till the second morning after leaving Detroit. 
“Again, no fruit is more perishable than a fully ripened 
peach; but peaches fully mellow, and ready to eat, have been 
put in refrigerator cars in California, and, after a six-days’ 
run to Chicago, have heen reshipped by express to New York, 
reaching there in condition to bring good prices. Of course, 
to endure such severe tests, it is necessary to have the fruit 
very carefully assorted and packed. A very few  specked 
peaches or rotting strawberries would spoil an entire package 
before reaching so distant a market. Good judgment, too, is 
necessary in picking fruit «at the proper stage of maturity for 
refrigerator shipment. Of course, it should not be too ripe, 
but the mistake is much more often made of picking it too 
green. In shipping by freight in open ears, it is often nee- 
essary to pick rather green, but with most fruits this is done 
at great sacrifice of quality. Under refrigeration, fully ma- 
tured ripe fruit will keep better than that which is grass 
green. This is an important point in favor of refrigeration, 
and one that many growers do not understand, for it enables 
