FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
31 
I have had some correspondence with, a gentleman hand¬ 
ling strawberries about Gainesville. He has a patent of his 
own get up in a cold storage box that he puts in a car—a com¬ 
mon freight car ; he lets his car remain and cool twenty-four 
hours. After cooling it perfectly and thoroughly he puts in 
his fruit and it goes to New York and the Northern markets 
in perfect condition. He said he handled grapes in the same 
way and had no difficulty whatever. From my observation 
on my trip to Chicago last June, from what I have seen of 
grape marketing in other ways, and from experience of our 
method of shipping for two years now in express cars, I have 
come to the conclusion that this is the difficulty and about 
the only one. Grapes in our hot climate ripen when the 
weather is hot and moist, and we must have some means of 
cooling the grapes down before they are started in transit, 
else they‘will rot on the way. I d^ not believe to-day that 
there is an investment that a man can go into, if he under¬ 
stands the business, which would be more paying than grape 
growing, if the right kind of transportation can be obtained 
to put the grapes in the Northern markets. We could not 
get refrigerator cars for love or m mey; at least, that has 
been the experience of the past. We must have a fast, reli¬ 
able refrigerator service or make our grapes into wine. 
Mr. G. P. Healy —I would like to ask a question. Do you 
find that you get remunerative prices for the grapes that go 
through in g >od order ? 
Mr. Wright —Yes, sir; this has been my experience and it 
cannot be otherwise. If the grapes reach the markets in 
good condition you will get good prices. I want to say one 
thing. I do not ship white grapes to Chicago. You can send 
them to Philadelphia, New York or Boston and get good 
prices. I have had my 7 grapes bring me thirty cents a pound 
in New York and Loston. 
Mr. Healy —I would like to ask if that was last year. 
Mr. Wright —Last year I got twenty-two cents for the first 
shipments that went through and they were not thoroughly 
ripe. 
Mr. Healy—I would like to ask Mr. Wright if it is a fact 
that all of the grapes of South Florida that went into the 
Northern markets in good condition sold at paying prices. 
Mr. Wright— As far as I know they did. 
Mr. Healy —What were the prices ? 
Mr. Wright —Eight to ten cents per pound. I can grow 
grapes in Florida as cheap as I can in New York state. 
Mr. Healy —I sent my grapes to the Northern markets. 
They went through in good order ; I did not have any re¬ 
ported in bad order. They went there in good time and they 
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