210 FRUIT HARVKSTING, STORING, MARKETING 



built car such a cold load would warm up very slowly, and a 

 small amount of ice served to carry it safely to its destination. 

 When it was attempted to use these cars for fruit, the hot 

 load, fresh from the fields, soon melted the limited ice supply, 

 and the cars invariably arrived heated and in bad order. To 

 use these cars successfully it was found necessary to build 

 cooling houses at the shipping points, in which the fruit could 

 be cooled off before loading, as in the case of the meat. This 

 caused delay in getting the fruit on the market, and made 

 much additional expense. It, however, demonstrated the 

 success of refrigeration for the transportation of fruits; and 

 soon cars were built especially for the fruit trade, with 

 sufficient ice capacity to cool off a load of hot fruit in transit 

 and to keep it cool. At the present time there are a number 

 of refrigerator car lines, with specially built fruit cars, that 

 are actively competing for the fruit and vegetable carrying 

 trade, so that any point having sufficient business to offer 

 can secure efficient car service, with competent men to look 

 after the proper loading and icing of the cars. Each line, of 

 course, claims to have the best cars, and for difficult service 

 there would certainly be considerable choice between them, 

 but with the numerous re-icing stations that are now avail- 

 able, any of them will give satisfactory service, if properly 

 loaded and handled. 



" The main points to consider in selecting a refrigerator 

 car for transporting produce are, first, its ice capacity, and 

 second, its insulation. The ice tanks should hold at least five 

 tons of ice, and six tons is even better. The position of the 

 tanks, whether overhead or at the ends, is a question of minor 

 importance. The car should be tightly built, with double 

 walls and roof, with the space between them filled in with 

 some non-conducting material, or by numerous linings of 

 building paper with dead air spaces between them. The 

 doors should be built like the walls and be of the same thick- 

 ness, and they should fit as nearly air-tight as possible. Of 

 course the car should be sweet and clean. 



" It is usual for the refrigerator companies to furnish their 

 own men for loading the cars, for proper loading is a point of 



