The morning call., 1891-05-16
SUGAR AND PRESERVES.

Rousekeeper8 have noticed within the
past few weeks the appearance at the gro
Gerry stores of a new sugar labeled Hong
Kong sugar of which seventeen pounds are
offered for a dollar. 1t is very white, shin
ing, and consists of large crystals. On in
curry the observer is told that it IS the
product of a refinery at Hong-Kong in
China, probably owned by an English COM
panv. and is N ade from refuse raw sugar
and uOlasses from Manila. 1t is said to
contain as much saccharine as American
granulated sugar. Perhaps it would be
more accurate to describe it as equal in
grade to good a sugar from the Eastern re-
finerieS. At the present price of graDulated
it is only trle over quarter of a cent
cheaper than that grade, and at the differ
ence the American article is probably the
cheaper Of the two, but the appearance OF
an article from an outside refinery in our
market constitutes a guarantee against any
future serious rise in graduated.
This is a matter Of some importance as,
sooner or later, the manufacture of fruit
preserves on a large scale may become one
OF the leading industries of ths Coast. At
the present time there is but one concern in
the State which makes preserves on large
scale-that is the factory at San Jose; an
other is about to be started in Oakland.
But it is a remarkable fact that while the
best and cheapest fruit in the United States
for preserving is raised in this State, and
we have had for years ample supplies OF
free sugar from the islands, the great bulk
of the preserves sold by city grOcers are
made by Gordon Dilw0rth in New York, by
other establishments in Boston, Chicago
and Cincinnati. by Crosse Il Blackwell in
England and by preserve-makers in Ger
many. The anomaly is the more curious as
the manufacturers in the East rely upon
California for the bulk Of their raw ma
teTial.
Ripe fruit in this city, such as apricots,
prunes, peaches and pears. sells on an aver
age, one year with another, at cents
pound. When this fruit undergOes pre-
liminary cooking and pitting the Shrinkage
brings its value to about 3 cents a pound.
1t is then packed in barrels, treated with 10
per cent Of syrup and shipped to the East.
BY the time it reaches Boston, freight and
tare have brought its value TO about "a
cents a pound. 1t thin goes through the
process Of preserving, according u the latest
scientific rules, and when this is complete
in the Mississippi Valley 1215 or IS cents a
pound. 1t comes here and hndS a ready
market within certain limits at - or IS cents
pound. We part with our product at 3
cents and take it back from Eastern men,
after they have manufactured If, at 10 The
question naturally suggests itself 49, why
should we not keep the y cents If renee
at home? The disadvantage under which
49, oh, 81, z
not suffice to account for the seeming
neglect of an available resource
Ia no branch Of manufacture is the superb
ority of human ingenuity over natural ad-
yantages more conspicuous than in the
fTuit-preseTye industry. Southern Europe.
like California, teens with the finest fruits
in the world; but the fruit preserves which
figure on every Widespread bTeakfast-tabe,
from St. Petersburg 10 Cadiz, are nearly all
made at Liverpool where no fruit is grown.
Never did an orange tree bloom in Scotland,
bat the marnalade of commerce is made at
Dundee. The manufacturer of these lux
uries pays freight aud duty on his raw ma
terial and sends it back in a manufactured
shape to be eaten by the people who raised
the fruit So in California. This is the only
part Of the world in which the apricot is
produced to perfection and in large
quantities; but when a San Franciscan
wants a really fine dish of apricot
preserves he sends for Il to Crosse
" Blackwell OF London, or Gordon
Dilworth Of New York, who make il out of
Californian apficots. We are beating the
Germans in growing DTunes; our dried
prunes command higher price at Chicago
than the German prunes; but we cannot
touch the fine German-pruue preserves.
Some day We shall correct all this. We
have the fruit, we have the sugar and we
have the ingenuity; bat thus far these ele-
ments Of success have not been brought into
cooperation. Perhaps, when the beet-sugsr
industry Is established on a large scale in
this State, the competition between the cane
and the beet may become so sharp that the
producers of one or the other may be
tempted TO establish preserve factories to
consume their surplus, and, when that hap
pens, San Francisco may become a formid-
able rival Of Liverpool in an important in
duStrv