THE PROGEESS OF FRUIT CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 159 



first establishment in the west to offer artificial refrigeration for general 

 storage purposes appears to have been the American Union Cold Storage 

 Warehouse Company, of Chicago, which began business on Thanksgiving 

 Day, 1889. This company stored Apples in large quantities in 1890, and 

 Pears a year later. Since this time Apples have been extensively stored 

 in various cities, and the period through which the fruit could be kept has 

 been greatly extended. 



The introduction of the use of refrigeration in transit was of still 

 greater importance. To-day the very extensive fruit-growing industry in 

 many parts of the United States remote from centres of population 

 depends entirely upon facilities for refrigeration during transit. Formerly 

 the great bulk of our railroad shipments was sent in cars poorly suited 

 for the purpose, and the fruit deteriorated rapidly. Therefore shipments 

 were only made to places at comparatively short distances. Ventilated 

 cars of various kinds were tried, and were, of course, improvements 

 over the ordinary freight cars. Refrigerator cars were first used in the 

 shipment of meat, which gave a great stimulus to the development of 

 the refrigeration system. In 1868 D. W. Davis perfected and patented 

 a refrigerator-car in which galvanised iron tanks containing a freezing 

 mixture of ice and salt were arranged along the side of the car in such a 

 way that they could be refilled from the top without entering the car. In 

 this style of car, Strawberries were reported to have been successfully 

 shipped from Cobden, Illinois, to Buffalo, New York, and Peaches from 

 Dayton, Ohio, to New York City in sound condition, though in each case 

 the produce was said to have been ten days in transit. From this time 

 the use of refrigerator-cars was gradually extended. According to 

 Mr. W. A. Taylor, however, results were still quite uncertain and the 

 outlook discouraging until about 1887, when F. A. Thomas, of Chicago, 

 and Mr. Parker Earl, of Cobden, Illinois, took the matter up and practically 

 revolutionised the business of fresh fruit transportation. Their plan was 

 to provide a through service from shipping point to destination in special 

 cars under one management, re-icing the cars in transit. A few trials 

 demonstrated that the system was feasible, and the service became very 

 popular. Fruit forwarded to large cities by the carload could by this 

 system then be distributed to other places in small quantities by express, 

 and would reach their destinations in very remote parts of the country in 

 sound condition. The rapid development of shipments of this kind is 

 shown from the fact that, from a total of sixty cars in use in 1888, the 

 company Mr. Thomas organised so increased its accommodation that 

 by 1891 it had in use over 600 cars, travelling over different roads, 

 and used for carrying various fruits at all seasons of the year. Thus the 

 introduction of the refrigerator-car service, and cold-storage plant 

 had the effect of transforming the American fruit industry, for with 

 these improvements it became possible to grow each kind of fruit where it 

 could be raised to the best advantage, and place it on the market in the 

 remotest corner of the country. Furthermore, it stimulated the growing 

 of fruit over large areas and by companies, as it became necessary to ship 

 fruit by the carload, this quantity being the unit of shipment. It can be 

 readily seen that a grower should then have enough trees of a certain 

 variety of fruit so that a carload could be obtained at one picking. 



