Enormous quantities of vegetables are transported by the steam railways of the country, shipments being made by freight and express. It is not common to find solid trains of a single kind of vegetable moving toward the great centers of population. A prevailing practice for local shipments of miscellaneous vegetables is for the train crew to distribute cars in the forenoon and to collect them on the return trip to the city in the afternoon.

For summer shipments the cars must be iced or well ventilated. Refrigeration is universally employed for long distances, and when the distance is very great re-icing may be necessary to insure the delivery of the vegetables in first-class condition. In the winter, cars must be properly insulated to prevent the freezing of vegetables. The trolley is becoming an important means of transporting garden crops.