The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-01-04
CALIFORNIA FRUIT.
Some Valuable Points for Orch.
ardiStS-NOtes From Niles.

Editor Morning Call: A few days ago
an article appeared in the columns of THE
CALL which ted how raisin-grower near
Fresno had successfully marketed the prod
uct Of ten acres of grapes in the East, by
going in person with his crop. He succeeded
in clearing two cents more a pound than
he could in any other way; and what is
much better, has secured a market for his
future crops.
That is exactly what more growers must
do. No d ubt that gentleman may secure q
market for much Of his neighbors' fruits, If
they wish him to. And just here lies the
difficulty. There seems TO be an absurd
feeling in many sections that every man )
neghbor is his enemy. 1t seems to be a
hard matter for frut-grOwers to combine
As was suggested n an editorial in THE
CALL last week, the only way to do is for
the growers to combine, send men East
with samples, and thus place the fruit in
the hands Of the consumer with but the one
60 between. The inevitable result would
Oe an immediate market and vast increase
in the annual sales.
1t is a fact very noticeable in the East
TINT the quality of the fruit sent is far in
advance of the demand. In other words. il
Is the commission men who keep up the de-
mand for fine gTadeS-an admirable thing
but the intent of this remark is 10 call the
attention of the grower from the subject of
improving the quality TO that of making
and securing larger markets.
As for quality, dried cut fruits are never
graded as closely in Eastern retail markets
as in San Francisco. Any Calf rnia dried
fruit sells, and sells WELL ana now that its
reputation is made let the subject Of sui
phuring. of grading, etc, be dropped for
awhile. and this more important matter for
the time being be attended To-
The h ndllng OF the crops more directly
by the growers would prevent too, in
measure, a deception that is practiced every
where. Fruit that has never seen CalifOr-
MA is sold under that deluSve name. In
several cities bins Of what was labeled
california Clipped dried fruits" was for
sale. Your correspondent could not say il
was not from California, but certainly
nothing like it has ever been seen in local
markets, nor is it prepared in any orchard in
middle California, in which thousands upon
thousands of tons Ut fruits are dried each
season.
This Clipped fruit is made of thin, uneven
slices Of peaches or apricOiS, particularly
peaches, dried and beached and is a new
way to dispose of uudvrgrade fruits!
Two OF the most important events of the
past year have been the establishing Of a
union High School district in this section and
the granting Of n franchise for an electric
railway, to run between Haywards and San
Jose, draining every town on the line 1t
is iup0s that two such import ant pro-
jects should not have very much to do with
the advancement OF the community.
The High School opens Monday, the 18th
inst, in temporary quarters in CeDtervlie
The course is modelled after the Los An
Celes High School, and'it the Trustees have
seen lit TO select that admirable course
OF study it is to be hoped they will still
further adopt some Of Southern California
fashions and build a substantial building,
that shall also be fat dSOme structure
one that the people will he proud of in more
ways than one. There they build Of stone
or brick, and, as suggestion, why not
make use Of stone from Our local quarry, in
Niles Canyon, which Is, without doubt one
of tie best in the State? Alr. Wentworth,
from the Nevada City schools, is to take
charge.
Work will commence early this year upon
the electric railroad, which must be running
within two years and half more. Several
valuable pieces of land have changed hands
already. Prices are firm all along the liue,
aud a sort of mild boom is expected,
Another new enterprise has been the
shipping Of the first tTain-l0ad Of dried fruit
East from this town or neighUorhood.
Several of these carloads have been sold at
small advance over local prices and the
result will probably be that this year much
more will Oe sent.
NiAA!u TIE past year over dozen nrSt-
class houses or cottages and two large
hotels have been built and several more are
soon TO be built; IN fact, general air OF
prosperity prevails in the community.
The storm Of the past week has been OPP
perfume; for the thirty-Six hours ending
Thursday forenoon 297 Inches Of rain had
fallen, making over seven inches for the
season, and the storm not yet over.
January is usually the rainy month, and
If good twenty inches Of ram falls for the
season full crops are assured, SO the prospect
is good
TIE scale bug is growing apace and the
farmer IS waiting for clear, quiet weather,
so that he may spray. As a rule the same
washes will be used this year that were last
year.
The lagoOns aud marshes are covered
with ducks and geese and local hunters
have been having rare sport for the past
week.
The town has been filled with guests over
the holiday season.
The sunrise the last morning of the wear
was one of the most beautiful of the year;
the exquisite light reflected TAR up into the
SKY behind the crimson color which bathed
Mission Peak lasted over half an hour. and
was generally noticed over the valley.
Nttes, January 2, 1893. MRS. L. L. THANE.