STORAGE 



STClKAGE 



17:]r 



tion; in fai't. the diffrront varii-tifs of applr^ riM|uire 

 lUtfereut tU'i^rees ot: tciupL-riitatT. ami it t.M)k ;t hnii;- 

 time to loam this. AL;aiu. it is allllM^t imiMiNsiiilr to 

 niaiiUaiu the same t(.'iii|K'rat\irL' iu all parts ot' a hir^^o 

 Imihliiii:;' or rvi.'ii iu tun- hifLic rmmi. ,\s a rulr, each 

 varii-'tv of fnilt or v..'l;tI aiile shoiihl have a sr]iar'ato 

 riK>ui, and the kr..-iu-r sh.nild ku^w what drLcrrr i>f tL-m- 

 po rat lire is hcst i<.>v each. Some variotios of apjdrs 

 liave the reputation of kL-opiui;' bettor iu cohl storaii-o 

 tlutu others, l>ut it is only hi-cnusi.- oin- had a tnnprra- 

 turo suite<l to it aud the othrf did not. A i-ardoad of 

 apph^s ma^' have oome ffinn tho oridiard whore the fruit 

 had hoeu exposed to the liot sun ami aitaiurd a toiu- 

 perature of poriiaps yO*^ and \va.s then plaood iu a ro(Uu 

 with other oardots wdiioh were at the ju-npor tempora- 

 ture. In twolve hours the temperaturo in the room 

 would rise t" -'ii)^, and wdth tin- l)('st of uiauai^-iauoiit it 

 w^ould require forty-oiu-lit h<utrs to roduco tho toiii|iera- 

 ture ti' the proper mark; this coald not ho ollou-wiso 

 than iujurious to the outire lot. 



It has n^'t yet heen fully Sfttled ^Ylla^ is the iu-ui>rr 

 deijree of temperature to be used iu hropiui,^ tho various 

 fruits aud vei^otables. Keepers of ./old storau:-' I'lants 

 iliffer somewhat on this point, aud it is pr'il».ililc tlioy 

 all trv to maintain a deL,'reo too low for mo~;t of our prod- 

 ucts." The writer l.ielievos the touiperature most suir- 

 ahle for all lif we umst u^e one for all products) 

 would be :;4-. 



It is not important what kind of a bnildiim' i- nsoih 

 wdiether wood, stono ,>v brick, but it is very desirable 

 that it should l">e divided into many rooms. ,so iliat (■aoli 

 product may be stored iu a se^iarate room: aud wdnere 

 lars^e quantities of apples are stored, each variet\- 

 should occupv a separate room and the keeper slionld 

 have perfe-'t t'ontrol of each rooni and know the required 

 decree of temp'n-aturo for oaeli article and maintain it. 

 When this is done, cold storaL'-e will he a i^rcat suc- 

 cess. .1. Q\ Evans. 



Refrigerator Cars.— The invention and drvcdopnient 

 of the refri-orator car have lu-oved to lio very iuqjor- 

 tant factors iu fruit production ami nnirkeriuL:'. nuikin^ it 

 possible to market in irood condition the most ten dor fruits 

 two to three thousand miles from where they are s,-ro^cu. 

 Prior to the days of the refriLun-ator car. strawberries 

 if shipped hv freight more than one m- two hundred 





i_^^/' ' : „'_,i,v< r y—r^ —^ 



2413. Icing cars i at the topi at one ol the stations of the i-ruit 

 Growers' Express. Georgia. 



miles usually ;uTiveil in bad oi-d.-r and were Terrunsat- 

 isiiactory to lintli dealer and enusumer, and, except fur 

 the fnrst f^-w early shipments, jn-iees were very low. It 

 was only at the ripening of "honie-yro.vn strawherries " 

 that for two or three weeks any market was salisfae- 

 torily supplied, and the puhlie readily paid two and 

 three times the price they W"uhl for "shippeddn ber- 

 ries " a few weeks earlier. 



Now, \villi refri^i'ratiu" e.ars ,jf si rawlion-irs cotninL;- in 



from Flondii in l-'rlnaiary and al.m^- u|i II oa-t 111! 



Widl into. Inly, wlnni llio in^t strawb.n-ries come in innn 

 Maine and norlliern New" York, brrtir-s just a!)out as 

 I'resit .and I.)riglil as "lmnie-^:ro\\ii " are to be seen in all 

 '.Mir t:-asreni markets tin" a so.as.nl of li\e moniliN. 

 ( 'liii.'aL;-,' and ollno' wcNtrrn markeis are in Itki- nnin- 

 mn' snp|ilied frtnn Te.Kas to noiaborn Wisconsin and 

 Hi(dii-an. 



Wit bout the r.d'ritrerator car, the ^rctit p.-ticb .u'chtirds of 

 (ieor^-iti ;ind Texas w-onid not be praci ictdile, as the most 

 .'f their fruit must be s,.ld ;d the Norib, The "peacb 

 season" now extends from Jlay till No\-(nnbor. 'I'be 

 " seasinis " lit oriel- f laiits are likewise extended in a less 

 de-ree, aud the tailnre ot tin- lo,-al i-rop in tiny one sec- 

 tion mnv liti-. In lii- elVe.-l ,iu the local inarkt-i. 'Michigan 

 or 3[issoiiri may be sendiiui- peaches to New York. 

 Bost<m ;ind i'liilailelptita one season on at-coiint of :i 

 ftiilnre (d' the ci-ep in ] )ela\\-;ire, X<-w- .Tei-sey aiid Con- 

 ue,.-tteur-. while the noxt year a. failure of the ci-op at 

 Ihe AA'esi eiitihles ( 'icauecr lent. N<-w .b-rsey and Delawai-i- 

 lo retnt-n rlu- cnnpliment aud supply (.'hicaiio, St. Ijouis 

 ;uid .Miiitieapolis. Y'et without the rt?fri^ei-alor ear such 

 recipr,Miie woidd Ite almost iinimssihle. exi-i-pt in l!ie 

 most ta\-,ir;ibh- seas<^ns. The rel'rii;-er;itot- eat- isi-eally 

 tl f^reat ice-chest on w-beels. .Most of tlo-se ctirs are 

 constrnct(-d wirb ic(--bniikei-s at c-tich (-ml of the ctir, 

 with ;i ctipticitv of 4 to l> t,,ns ot ice tor each car. Kie. 



•J4l:;. 



ylne stvle has s,,nie fw-o feet ol' the wbele top <it car 

 tis tin ice-lmnkel-. and is one of Ihe best of cars if kept 

 fully ic-il all the wliile iu trtinsit. Ktiilroad j.eople 

 object to it sliuhtly Oil ;e-cotlut of bi-ilrt-'' t op-ln-a^")- . and 

 when icU full the ice slides from one side to another 

 L;-cune- around curves, etc. yiost of the h-adine railrotids of 

 the country own ;i uundier of ret i-ieerator c;i i-s, ami tln-se 

 ;ire furnished ft-ee to slij|ij,(..rs who do their own icinu. 

 There a]-e severttl refri e ei-at< ir ctir cnnpti nics w-|.iich ie.\i! 

 tiitd op<-t-are ctirs. and foi- a sjiecihed stioi they atti-nd_ 

 to lotiding the ctir and all Ihe icin^- at initial points and 

 look titter re-iciim- c« ,-"«',. — iu fto-t. ijuaraiitee n-frig- 

 i-rafieii until car is uitl-iaded. This is the most exin-n- 

 sive ser\ h-e. 1-iut is safest tiud best f < U' lonL.' distances. 

 Bltt for one and t^v<.| dtiys' shi|.iinents, ^\■lle|■e the ctu-s do 

 not reipiire re-iciue-. the shipper can sa\e money by 

 ttsiii^r til,, railrotid refi-iuertitors tiud do his ov.-n icin^', 

 and tliei-c is no good rc-asou why the leadini.^ rtiilro.njs 

 cannot establish icing stations and re-ice their own 

 cars, charging the expiense along on the freight hill. 



In loading a refric:erator car, care is taken thtit an 

 opportunity is providi-d for air circulation around each 

 package; this is accomplished liy )iroperly spacing the 

 tirst row of packages, tlien Ijy "stripping" across the 

 tops of these two strips almut Ibj in. square, tacking a 

 small nail down through them, one into each packtige. 

 The paekau'es are held in place, and the 

 striiis serve for the next tier of packages 

 ti;i rest oit :ind lea'.'e an tiir space of tin 

 im-h between the two layers. In this way 

 cars are luailed full u|i to eighteen inches or 

 two feet of the top. cai-e being taken nsutilly 

 to have the ripest or poorest carrying fruit 

 in the boreoin ot the car. and the firmest, 

 long-keeping at the top; for if the ice- 

 bunkers are not kept "chock-a-block" lull 

 all the time, the top tiers do not ;;-et as 

 -.loil refrigeration. It is also the cnsloin 

 of mauv mtn-lcetmen on unloading these 

 cars to sell out the top tiers tirst. for Ihe 

 boltoin-tier fi-uit keeps best; while often iu 

 i.-;ise of fruit picked a little too green, top 

 tii.-rs show up best and hettom tiers are 

 stored out ef the car a day before being 

 iiliere.l for sale. Tin- Ijest j-esnlts iti re- 

 frii^erator car servict.- are attained when the 

 ear has been iced at least tw-elve hours liefore loading, 

 and [be loadilm' is ipia-kly done by opening the car 

 doors only a few times. 



The w-riter's own jilaii. wbi-u fruit is abumlant, is not 

 to start loailiin; :i car till be has fruit cuou^-h packed 

 to fill it; theu with a gaii-- in each end of the car to 

 properly spiaee the packa-.-s aud do the " siriiipiug" and_ 

 nailing,' opeii the d.iors and rush ili all the middle of 



