TRANSPORTATION 139 
parcel post become of sufficient importance to be of great 
value in distributing farm produce. For the past 15 
years efforts have been made to produce a workable 
parcel post system, and have been defeated in almost 
every case up to 1912 when a bill was passed by Con- 
gress inaugurating its use on a limited scale. It has 
Fig. 103.—APPLES BY PARCEL POST 
since been extended, until at the present time it is pos- 
sible to ship in quantities as large as 50 pounds in the 
first and second zones through the medium of the parcel 
post. 
Pre-cooling of Fruit—All of the more perishable 
fruits that are usually shipped in refrigerator cars must 
be kept cool by the use of ice while in transit. Espe- 
cially is this true of the fruits shipped from the South- 
ern or Western states to the Eastern markets. On the 
