32 
BULLETIN 1261, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
EXPENSE OF TRANSPORTATION. 
The steady -advance of transportation expense from 1917 to 1921 
and the small decline taking place in 1922 are shown in Figure 9. 
Transportation expense per box is corrected for distribution to differ- 
ent tariff territories, and adjusted for varying box weights and varying 
numbers of boxes per car. Since shipments are made under ventila- 
tion or under various types of refrigeration, the expense per box for f 
refrigeration is the average expense of all shipments of the exchange 
during the season, and not the average of shipments made under re- 
frigeration. 
Freight makes up approximately 85 per cent of the total transpor- 
tation expense for oranges and approximately 91 per cent of the 
lemon transportation expense. Refrigeration charges constitute the 
COST 
CENTS 
ORANGES 
PER 
BOX 
160 
140 
120 
100 
80 
60 
40 
20 
- o - 
LEMONS 
- 
— 
— 
B2 
— 
— 
— 
— 
(fusj) 
- 
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 
Fig. 9.— Average annual transportation expense (in cents per packed box) of citrus shipments from Cali- 
fornia to consuming centers 
chief part of the remainder of the expense. Miscellaneous expense, 
such as heater charge, track storage, and demurrage, are relatively 
insignificant items. 
Through the winter months oranges are generally shipped in ven- 
tilated refrigerator cars. Under these conditions no charge is made 
for refrigeration. Lemons are shipped almost entirely under ventila- 
tion. Refrigeration is used only for " tree-ripe " lemons, or lemons 
that for any other reason do not have good carrying qualities. 
As the season advances it is necessary to refrigerate all orange ship- 
ments. The cost of shipping citrus fruit under standard refrigera- 
tion to eastern markets is approximately 20 cents per box. A car is 
re-iced at every icing station while it is en route to market, or every 
24 hours on the average. During warm weather at least half the ice 
is used to reduce the initial temperature of the shipment, and as the 
construction of the car and the nature of an orange load are not 
adapted to the free circulation of air, four to five days are generally 
required for the shipment to reach the minimum temperature at 
which it can be held throughout the trip. 
Many associations have constructed precooling plants in which the 
fruit is cooled to a uniformly low temperature prior to shipment. As 
