OCTOBER, 1908. J 



849 



Edible Products. 



destination in solid cars. Such fruit as 

 is shipped by express must usually be 

 transferred a number of times. The 

 time allowed by train connections for 

 transferring expressage is usually very 

 short, consequently the crates receive 

 extremely rough handling and many of 

 them are broken. 



Since express shipments are out of the 

 question, the next best plan is to ship 

 by freight in car load lots. This insures 

 more rapid transportation and cheaper 

 rates than if smaller shipments are 

 made. Two or three neighbours may 

 combine and load a ear in case one 

 cannot do so alone. 



All-rail shipments should reach New 

 York from Fort Pierce, near the northern 

 edge of the pineappie belt, in five days ; 

 Boston in six days ; Philadelphia in four 

 and one-half days. By water from Jack- 

 sonville the time averages one or two 

 days longer. 



Loading the Car. 



A car load is 300 crates, though the car 

 load rate may apply to 150 crates ; the 

 maximum should not exceed 360 crates. 



In loading the car for all-rail ship- 

 ments, place six crates across the end on 

 their flat sides and two and a half to 

 three inches apart. On top at front 

 edge of this layer place a slat one-half 

 inch thick by three inches wide ; cut so 

 as to exactly fit into the car crosswise. 

 Put one nail through this into the slat of 

 each crate, contiuue this five tiers high 

 for a 300 crate car and six tiers high for 

 360 crate car, placing 150 or 180 crates in 

 each end of the car, as the case may be. 

 When the crates are all in, a passage 

 about two and one-half feet wide is left 

 in the centre of the car between the 

 doors. These spaces must be braced to 

 prevent the crates from slipping and 

 falling. Across the face of the top layer 

 at the centre, bottom and top tack a 

 board 1 by 5 inches, then with short 

 pieces brace diagonally across between 

 filling in the two one-half feet spaces 

 with sufficient braces to prevent slipping. 

 It will be noticed that no slats are to be 

 nailed across the crates except at the 

 front ends. This leaves the top upper 

 tier of crates two and one-halt inches 

 higher than those at the back ends of 

 the car, which will assist, considerably 

 in preventing shifting. 



Shipping Routes and Rates. 



The shipping routes for pineapples 

 from the east coast of Florida to the 

 northern markets are as follows : — 



Rail and Steamer. 

 1. Florida East Coast Railroad and 

 Ocean Steamship Company. 



2. Florida East Coast Railroad and 

 Merchant and Miners' Transportation 

 Company. 



3. Florida East Coast Railroad and 

 Clyde Line Steamship. 



4. Florida East Ccast Railroad, At- 

 lantic Coast Line (Norfolk) Merchant and 

 Miners' Transportation Company. 



All-Rail. 



5. Atlantic Coast Dispatch. 



The rates beyond Jacksonville, Fla., 

 to New York, Philadelphia and Boston 

 by routes one, two and three is thirty- 

 five cents per crate ; by routes four, 

 forty -five and one-half cents, while the 

 all-rail (A. CD.) is forty-eight and one- 

 half cents to Philadelphia, fifty cents to 

 New York, and fifty-eight and one-half 

 cents to Boston. 



The rates to Jacksonville on the 

 Florida East Coast Railroad from various 

 points are as follows :— 



Stations. Rates. 

 Roseland to Vero (inclusive) 22 c. 



Oslo to Ankona (inclusive) 23 c. 



Tibballs to Aberdeen (inclusive) 24 c. 

 Gomez to West Jupiter (inclusive) 25 c 

 Praiiie to Hypoluxo (inclusive) 28 c. 

 Boynton to Deerfield (inclusive) 30 c. 

 Pompano to Dania (inclusive) 32 c. 

 Hallandale to Miami (inclusive) 33 c. 



The facilities throughout the pine- 

 apple belt for loading pineapples could 

 scarcely be improved upon, sidings and 

 loading stations are placed so that the 

 hauls are always short, there being in 

 some cases four or five or more loading 

 stations in every two or three miles. 



Marketing. 



Pineapples are marketed in one of 

 four ways, either by selling them at the 

 packing house, by shipping them to a 

 commission house, selling through an 

 association, or selling through a broker. 



Selling at Home. — If the fruit can be 

 sold at a fair figure at the packing 

 house, it is usually best to take it. Then 

 someone else than the grower has 

 to assume the responsibility of market 

 fluctuations and delays in transporta- 

 tions. Frequently the crop is sold in 

 advance at a certain fixed rate per 

 crate. Such contracts usually cover the 

 fruit harvested within a certain period. 



Private Trade.— The private trade in 

 pineapples has assumed considerable 

 proportions. To the larger grower this 

 method of marketing pineapples is not 

 very inviting owing to the extra amount 

 of time and care required. But it is 

 worthy the serious consideration of the 

 small grower. 



