Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-05-21
Success of California Raisins.

In the minds of many men the
old is better than the new. They
cannot change their former habits
of thought; the place a production
comes from Is more to them than
the product itself. In New York
they wear foreign goods; in San
Francisco they drink (or think
they drink foreign wines, and pur.
chase Tor think they purcba,e) for
eign raisins. After awhile when
the new claimants for public favor
have won high rank, these conserv =
atists wheel into line and are de-
voted to the home product.
California raisin makers have
often enough been told that they
were producing an article which
WAS grade below the "LondOn
layer" or at best not higher. They
| have been warned that for many
years to come, and with labor so
high as 1t is here, and with the ac-
knowledged lack OF experience, the
higher grades, such as "Vegas"
and "Dehesias" were entirely un.
attainable. There have been those
who have, on the other hand, insin.
uated that the methods and study
necessitateu on this coast by the
conditions peculiar here, and the
fact that our raiSin. makers ap-
proach the problem unhampered
oy traditions, render success OF the
highest sort only question of
time. That this view is correct the
following letter would seem to in
dictate. 1t is from George w.
Meade & Co., commission mer-
chants of this city. They write,
under date Of May 18th. saying:
"Editor Bulletin: Some time
since au article appeared in the
Bulletin, taken from the New York
Sun, in which the San editor,
speaking of the California raisins,
classed them as only sixth iD
quality as compared to the best
Malaga fruit. Deeming this a
great Injustice to our California
product, we took occasion to for.
ward q box of our best Californj q
raisins to our New York agents,
with instructions to exhibit them
to the leading dealers in the MaIA-
ga trade and get their opinion as
to the quality, packing, etc., OF our
home product. The following Is
an extract from the letter received
to-day:
"The box of California raisins
came duly to hand and has excited
a great deal of interest and COM
ment among the trade here, to
whom we have shown the fruit. II
goes without saying that, judging
by this sample, California can pro-
duce as fine raisins AS any in the
world, and If our eyes were shut il
would be extremely difficult for one
to distinguish this sample from the
finest Spanish Deheota, though
some Of our importers claim thai
the skin is tougher than the i'm
ported. Tue punches or cluster'
are even larger than the Malaga
though the fruit Is not so blue, auC
IL of course not 30 shOwiiy packed
With such fruit as this the question
of competition with the Malaga iI
this market is simply one OF prict
alone.n
| This ia an interesting, en-
coursging, and in some re
spects, an unexpected report. !
Is better than was hoped for. l
has commercial value and Nigh
with profit BIZ used to advertis,
California raisins. It shows clear
that the market is open. Toe ques
ton Is merely one of price. Her
We have the advantage over al
competitors. Our young. health!
vines on new lands can turn Ou
tons of raisins to Europe's centai-
aud pound for pound Ut much lowe
cost. Tue ''com parativeiy tOughe
skiD," will be overcome by som
} minor change In the sweating sys
tenn In use here. The color OF tn
fruit will be darkensd by using