Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-12-21
NATIVE RAIsINs FOR CHRISTMAS.
The California Dried Fruit Is Successfully
Competing with the Spanish.


Competing with the Spanish.
Grocers> in New York have been much
surprised this season by the remarkable
inroad which has been made by the Cali
fornia raisins into the trade of imported
dried fruit At Christmas time there is
always an increased demand for this class
of groceries. Heretofore it has been neces-
sary to depend upon importations for some
of the materials required in making the
customary Christmas or plum pudding.
This is no longer a necessity, as this coun-
try cannot only supply the flour and eggs,
but also the fruit. When California first
produced surplus of grapes, the thought
of the cultivators naturally turned to the
making of wine as a means of the disposal
in profitable way of the superintendent
harvest. AS time wore on and the produc-
ton increased, while the making of wine
failed to utilize all the extra crop, attention
was given to the drying of the fruit, bet
ter known by the designation of the
curing of raisins. For a long while this
new source of American industry failed to
realize the desired result. The art of cur
ing raisins for tine general market was in
its infancy, and had not been perfected.
Despite all efforts, the product did not
equal in any way that of Spain, either in
beauty or quality. Consequently there was
very little demand for native fruit. Even
in the State where the grapes were grown
there was no market for the native raisins,
much less in those cities along the Atlantic
seaboard into which the foreign fruit was
brought. Time and experience have, how
ever, taught the cultivators of the Califor-
MIA vineyards, aud those associated with
them, wherein they were lacking. Great
Improvements have been the result. So
advanced have they become in the art of
curing raisins that this season they have
been enabled to introduce in the New York
markets native raisins which are claimed
to be not only equal to the ordinary class
of goods imported from Spain, but seem
superior.
In many districts of the United States
the Californian raisin is said to be preferred
to the Spanish Malaga fruit. This is not
on account of cheaper price, for the ma
tive product rates as high in the market as
the imported. In point of fact the price of
the former is graded by that of the latter.
No attempt is made here to undersell the
market rate. The dealers say there is no
necessity for so doing, as the native fruit
will maintain its own position by its beauty
and quality. Yet despite this fact the
wholesale dealers here in this new class of
Californian fruit assert that the sales of
DOlu lut udllNc anu lOlClSll 1diSlh 1uh
about equal that they sell box for box
with each other at the same price Ger
tain classes of the larger Muscatel raisins,
in punches, brought from California dur
ing the present season exhibit as pretty
an appearance as any imported from
Spain. Without the ornamental pack
ing to set them off they are gener-
ally quite as attractive to purchasers of
| choice fruit. 1t is true that many give
preference to the Spanish, because it is for
eign, while others think there is yet some
thing lacking toward a perfection in the
curing of the American. They consider the
native raisin is not so lasting as the i'm
ported. Even those grocers who raise this
objection admit that it will only be short
time when this difficulty will be overcome.
Then all obstacles to the California raisin
commanding the American market will be
removed The strides which have been
| made during the past two years in the pro-
| duction of this class of dried fruit are uni
versally admitted. As the time and cost of
| transportation have been greatly reduced,
| there seems to be scarcely any reason
why the native raisin cannot, in the
| not far distant future, be laid down
| in this market fresher. cheaper and
better than those of Europe. Should
this prove to be the case. it will afford an
other opportunity for increasing the pro-
auctions of the soil. advancing American
industry, and making the country more in
dependent of the Old World in the matter
of food supply. Some of the dealers in the
California raisin believe that the time is
not very remote when the expectation of
the American dried fruit will be as large as
the importations now are. This. they
think, will be especially the case when the
| quality of the American raisin becomes
more generally known. They point to the
great export trade which is now being car
ried on in American leather-the result of
an experiment to get rid of an overproduc-
tomas an example of what may be &C
| complished in other products. They also
| predict that it will not be long before the
United States will rank with any country
in the world in the matter of expectations,
instead of being, as formerly, dependent on
foreign countries for its supplies.-N. Y.
Mail and Express.