TRANSPORTATION 147 
Some of the larger companies have gone so far as to 
have their own boats and have worked out a very fine 
system of handling fruit while in transit. The distance 
or length of time fruit can be shipped will depend, of 
course, upon the conditions of climate and the kind and 
variety of the fruit handled. 
In a general way, however, the duration of fruit after 
picking, without some means of cold storage, would be 
about as follows for the different types of fruits: Straw- 
berry, 48 to 72 hours; raspberry, 48 to 72 hours; black- 
berry, 72 to 86 hours; peach, 4 to 8 days; plum, 
5 to 10 days; grape, 15 to 30 days; pear, 36 to 60 days; 
apple, 60 to 90 days; and citrus fruits, 30 to 60 days. 
By means of cold storage, together with the proper 
facilities for handling the fruit, these periods of time 
can be nearly doubled. Where plums will keep from 5 
to 10 days in ordinary storage without ice, under the 
best conditions they may be kept in good shape from 10 
to 20 days. 
Loading Fruit into Cars.—The transportation of fruit 
by rail calls for a very careful consideration in the 
methods of loading it into the car for shipment. In the 
first place, all the more perishable fruits must be so piled 
or placed in the cars that they will have a free circula- 
tion of air about every package. In the second place, 
they must be firm so that the switching or jolting of the 
car will not displace them. Fruit packages are not 
overly strong, and if once loosened before reaching their 
destination are likely to be broken and the fruit ruined. 
There are three general methods in use for the pack- 
ing of boxed fruit in cars. In some cases they are stood 
on end; in others on their side; and in a few eases, 
