MARKETING CABBAGE. 23 
From these causes several transportation problems arise, the most 
important of which are loading and service. Cars must be so loaded 
as to permit adequate ventilation, especially of warm-weather ship- 
ments. Heavy loading of cars is likely to result in spoilage and waste. 
The very earliest cabbage is shipped in crates or hampers in refrig- 
erator cars. Unless kept cold and moist, early southern stock 
is sure to wilt and deteriorate in market quality. Losses in the 
shipment of bulk cabbage in warm weather are heavy even when hard 
heads are loaded. When crated, the loss is much reduced. Crates 
and crating, however, add to the expense and sometimes the loss in 
bulk shipments is less than the cost of crating. Late in the season, 
cabbage may be shipped in bulk in refrigerator cars without special 
attention. Kapid movement of the early crop is most desirable, 
and special freight schedules are provided by some roads. The ship- 
per pays the freight, the rates of which have been recently increased. 
The shipper must plan ahead for his supply of empty cars and 
notify the freight agent in ample time. He must cooperate with the 
local shippers to see that his section gets its due attention. United 
effort is often desirable to secure improved service in the way of 
quick transportation, adequate ventilation, and attention at diver- 
sion points. Shipments from Florida, Texas, California, or Colorado 
may be on the road 7 to 15 days, and in such cases the railroad 
service becomes of prime importance. 
Freight charges. — The higher price usually obtained for early 
cabbage in northern markets is more or less offset by higher cost of 
transportation. Freight charges average much heavier from the 
early shipping sections than from the principal shipping points for the 
main crop, because early crop cabbage is grown principally in sec- 
tions remote from most of the large markets. Freight charges in 1924 
from representative shipping districts in California, Texas, and 
Florida to the leading markets for those districts were mostly above 
$1 per 100 pounds by the carload and still higher for shipments to 
markets outside the usual market territory. Charges for freight on 
Florida cabbage to principal eastern markets were rather higher than 
on Texas and California shipments to mid-western cities. Cabbage 
from the two leading late shipping States, New York and Wisconsin, 
pays only 27 to 35 and 16 to 31 cents per 100 pounds, respectively, to 
the principal markets for each of these two sections. 
FARM AND COMMERCIAL STORAGE. 
The main-crop shipping season is prolonged about four months 
by storage of the hard-headed long-keeping varieties. Fully half 
of the main-crop shipments are from either farm or commercial 
storage. 
By growers. — Small crops of late cabbage for home use and local 
marketing are stored in various convenient places, in shallow pits 
or furrows or in old hotbeds. The cabbage is placed roots upward, 
and covered with straw, litter, or earth, to prevent hard freezing. 
The shallow pit is still used extensively in western New York for 
temporary storage, as illustrated in Figure 15. 
Cool, airy cellars make good storage places for small lots. In 
these, solid heads slightly trimmed are piled not over 4 feet high. 
They are often placed on shelves 2 or 3 feet wide, leaving air space 
between the cabbage and the cellar wall and also between the top of 
