20 
BULLETIN 601, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
other words, this check car was topped off with ice after loading, and 
reiced in transit at the regular icing stations. A representative of 
the Department of Agriculture accompanied these cars and took 
accurate temperature records from time to time. The average 
temperature of the load in each car was computed from the 12 readings 
taken at each recording point. 
TRANSIT TEMPERATURE RECORDS. 
Figure 14 shows the average temperature of the celery in each car 
from the time it was loaded until it reached the market. The tem- 
perature of the outside air during the entire trip is shown also. The 
divisions at the left indicate degrees of temperature. The bottom 
divisions indicate the time in days. The small circles on each of the 
Fig. 14.— Diagram illustrating the average temperatures (° F.) of carloads of precooled and nonprecooled 
celery in transit from Florida to New York, season of 1915. 
curves are placed at the intersection marking the time that the read- 
ing was made and the temperature at that time. The lower curve 
represents the temperature of the precooled car and the upper curve 
that of the nonprecooled car. The irregular curve running through 
the chart marks the outside air temperature. 
The precooled car was loaded about noon on March 3, but was not 
cooled until the following morning, at which time the temperature 
of the car was only about 50° F. The first part of the curve illustrates 
this precooling period and shows the length of time required to pre- 
cool the car and the temperature of the car at the time it was shipped. 
This point, about 37° F., was known to be lower than the ice would 
hold it, but as this was the first car shipped under initial icing it 
seemed desirable to be on the safe side by starting with a low tem- 
perature. The diagram shows very clearly how the temperature 
