Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-06-18
What Early San Francisco Paid
for Apples and Peaches.
Virginia, New, Enterprise.l

Virginia, New, Enterprise.l
For the following items relative
to the first introduction and sale OF
fruits in California we are indebted
to Mr.. John Piper, the we'll known
theatrical manager of this city, who
was the first fruit dealer In San
Francisco, and who came to that
city from New York in the steamer
Oregon in the month of April,
1858. Mr.. Piper says that the first
box of apples Of Pacific Coast pro.
ducti0n which reached San Fran
cisco came in the same year, from
the ranch of Lewis Allen and Mr..
Meade, of Portland, Oregon, the
owners Of the same having crossed
the plains in 1916, and having
brought fruit trees with them.
Mr.. Piper pure ased the first lot
from the agent, Mr. King, for So. so
per pound, AND r.tailed the same
from ST. to 81 and even So apiece.
The next steamer, the Columbia,
brought another box, for which
Mr.. Piper offered the same price,
which was declined. He finally
secured the lot for $1.124 each, and
sold them again to two lads
named Keeling (now In the gun.
smith business in San Francisco)
fer $1.372 apiece, who In turn ped
died them out for So to SIS apiece.
During the winter OF 1854 Mr..
Piper and Mr.. Andrews, who were
then engaged in the hardware bus
iness on Davis street, ordered four
or five thousand pounds of apples
shipped from New York City to
San Francisco by steamer, paying
SO cents per pound for freight. The
apples were packed in saw-dust
in closed tin cans. Says our
informant: 1.-THE apples when first
opened had u delicious flavor, bat
turned black in half an hour after
ward from the effect Of the heat
during the twenty days. voyage.
Mr.. Piper adopted suggestion
from some one to preserve the ap-
Piles by picking them in salt water,
and sold them picked at so cents
apiece, at which price they were
readily disposed of. The fruit
dealer noticed, however, that Gus.
TONERS, after taking one bite,
would generally throw away the
apple in the plaza Portsmouth
Square,. He was afterward advised
to bake the picked apples, by way
OF variety, and actually sold sew.
eral hundred dollars worth baked
for SO cents apiece.
The first lot of peaches which
reached San Francisco, 1854, came
from Mr., Hill's ranch, at Napa,
and sold as high as So SO per dozen,
retail. Cherries, of Oregon growth,
were introduced the same year.
Mr.. Piper purchased the first lot
for $3.50 per pound. Putting them
in q clothes.basket, he retailed
them on the street for 25 cents
apiece, and afterward sold them in
his store for SIS per pound.
Strawberries arrived from Ala
media In lS54-5, and cost 81 pound
Wholesale, and heaped up in soup.
bowls, holding a hslf-pound each,
were retailed for SIS per bowl.
Pears, which came into market
about the same time, retailed
at high figure. Mr.. Piper
remembers getting Sill for a single
pear. The first shipment of
grapes which came from Los An.
geles sold at wholesale as high as
20 cents per pound. In 1855 Mr..
Piper bought 5000 boxes on the
steamer Senator. just arrived in
San Francisco, and took them to
Sacramento and Marysville, where
he was compelled to dispose Of
them for less than the freight
charges, the hot weather having
nearly ruined the entire lot. On
the return trip a cargo of water
melons, obtained from q rancher in
Sacramento for 25 cents apiece,
were sold in San Francisco at
prices ranging as high as ST..
Oranges, which were brought by
steamer from San Juan, the ter
minus of the route of the Nicara-
qua steamers In 1854, brought $50
per 1000, wholesale; lines brought
up from Acapulco were worth $50
per 1000; pineapples, $40 per 100;
bananas, $25 u bunch. Mr.. Piper
continued in the fruit trade from
1868 to 1858. Among the retail
dealers during that period were
Marco Medin and undertaken viii.
son, of this city.
Mr.. Piper, after continuing two
years longer in the grocery nusi-
ness in San Francisco, took up his
permanent residence In this city.
Among his best customers
while in the fruit business
were Michael Reese, Captain Fol.
som, w. H. Rhodes ("Caxton") and
host OF others whose names we
have not space to enumerate.