St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-04
PRESERVES EXPENSIVE.
The General Failure of the Fruit
CrOD Is the Cause.

Crop Is the Cause.
Housewives are making general
complaint that the prices OF fruit pre-
serves, jellies, and canned fruits are
higher now than they have been for
many years, says the New York Times.
Inquiry at one of the leading wholesale
grocery establishments of the city dis
closes the cause of this to be the failure
of the fruit crop last season. The adj
vance in prices Of many kinds of pre-
serves and canned fruits is remarkably
large. Peaches, for instance, are so
rare that it is not question of competi-
ton in selling them. but question Of
having them to sell. The dealer who is
fortunate to have peach preserves in any
form whatever or canned peaches COM
mandS his own price for them.
The consequence is that the percent
age OF increase in price i'll peach pre-
serves and canned peaches this season
over last ranges anywhere from IS to
100 per cent. The peach crop was TO-
tai failure in the East, and while little
relief was had from California it was
not sufficient to effect the market. This
rise In price extends also to evaporated
and, dried peaches, and, in fact, to
shape they may be offered for sale.
Jellies of all kinds have advanced
from 20 to IS per cent. except in the
cheaper grades of jellies, which are not
fruit jellies at all. To make a pound of
current jelly it costs about 21115 cents;
that is the bare cost of the raw ma
terial-the currant juice and the sugar.
When. therefore, currant jelly is of
fered-as it often iS-at AZ cents
a pound, there is something wrong
ON the face of the transaction.
This cheap stuff is made of glucose,
with alittIe apple juice and some harm
less coloring matter mixed in. The
apple juice gives it taste and the col
.sring matter makes it look like jelly.
physicians agree that glucose is a
harmless substance, and the grOcer's
trade accepts glucose jelly as the proper
thing for cheap delicacy, and they
offer 1t to the public as such, without
the above explanation, however.
The apple crop was also failure in
were made from Michigan, California
and Missouri, the stock on hand is SO
small that the advance in price has
been from 80 to 40 per cent of increase
over last season. One establishment
that had 10000 cases of apples at this
time last year now has only fifteen
cases. Most of the apples in the mar
ket now were canned in Maine, but the
supply is not equal to the demand.
Pears are also scarce, and for pear pre-
serves and canned pears the percentage
of increase in price over last season is
from so to 100.
There are no strawberries in the mar
ket at all, and the cherries, cranberries,
blackberries, raspberries, plums, quin-
ces, apricots. gooseberries and grapes
are far less than they were last season.
The consequence is that an advance has
been made all along the whole line Of
fruit preserves and canned fruits, with
out single exception. The market of
New York to-day is so short of these
sending to England and Scotland for
their fruit preserves, canned fruits, and
evaporated and dried fruits. One firm
alone sent out an order recently for S40,-
600 worth of these goods.
What the grocers call ''pie TIMBER is
especially, meager. The American peo-
pie are so fond of pies that the demand
for ''pie TIMBER is always great. The
country has not been able to supply the
demand, not alone in fruits but in yege-
tables, and large importations are the
consequence. The fact that raw ma
terial has to be imported also increases
the expense to the consumer, for the
duty has to be paid. Still another item
that bears on this subject is the in
creased cost of tin used IN the cans, an
additional cost that the grocers attriD-
ute directly to the working OF the Nc
Kinley tariff bill. The principal cause,
no weYer, for the extraordinary advance
in the prices of canned fruits and fruit
preserves is the shortness Of last sea-
sons fruit crop.