The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-28
FRUIT FROM THE PACIFIC.
NEW FORK Ears GREAT QUfNTI-
TIES, AND WANTS MORE.

@NNNNA ANANF ~ WE'VE ~
Received FROM CALIFORNIA; SO Far this
Senson-It IL All sold at A~uction-Ship-
rnents or American Fruit 60 Europe.
The receipts Of California fruit in New York
this season have been about /. 100 car loads, the
value OF which Ia about 81. 900. 900. These fig
ures refer to fresh fruit exclusively. The
shipments were principally cherries, apricots,
peaches, plums, pears. and grapes. The season
began about June 1 with cherries and will end
about Dec. 1 with grapes. which are now come
ing on. About forty car loads more are expected.
These large figures represent q business which
has been built up entirely In eight years, and
is possible only by the use of refrigerator cars.
Incidentally the business means a considerable
revenue to the railroads handling It. The aver
age value of a car load Of fruit is 5000, aud the
freight on 1t is $500. The fruit all comes to
New York by way Of the Central Pacific, Union
Pacific, and Erie roads.
The fruit is all sold at auction, and the scene
on the Erie pier, at the foot of Chambers street,
at q sale Is an animated one. The business in
this city-and the figures given refer to fruit for
local consumption only-is almost wholly in the
hands Of Greeks and Italians. The Wholesale
and retail dealers flock to the pier at an early
hour. The fruit Is sold at wholesale for the
account Of the big commission houses, bus
often there are small lots In q car load,
and for these the retailers are waiting.
II sHltS HHounJ W rum tNohNg-hNU
carloads a day. which come through in eleven
days. The cars reach Jersey City at A NJ.
and are transferred to floats and taken to the
Erie wharf. where they are unloaded between
3 and 4 o'clock. The fruit is all in refrigerator
cars, the temperature of which has been kept at
about AS, and Il comes out Of the cars In the
same condition as when 1t was put on board.
After being unloadcd. the various lots are as
sorted according TO tho marks Of the
A. 1900 .-., (a Ia
~spection. and the dealers examine the fruit
before 8 o'clock. AT o o'clock the auction
begins, and the scene some mornings is as
lively as the wheat pit Of the Chicago Board OF
Trade. and almost as noisy. The fruit dealers
are not so well dressed as tho brokers, but they
are quite as demonstratIve, and only the stern
rebukes OF the auctioneer keep them from
standing on the chairs, which they persist in
mounting. They shake the printed lists of the
lots wildly In the air, wave umbrellas Mt the
auctioneer. and cheer or decry what suits or
displeases them as II they were in a theatre.
This season has been an unsatisfactory one to
the growers. who had every expectation of doing
well owing to the virtual failure of the Eastern
peach crop. But the big railroad strike pre-
vented any cars being sent out during July.
Immediately after the strike ended great guam
titles Of fruit were sent East from California,
much Of which was too ripe, because II had been
kept so long. The result was that this fruit,
mostly Bartlett pears, sold low. The New Jersey
peach crop proved much larger than was antici-
pated and prevented good prices on Cali
fornin peaches. and finally rains In Cali
fornia have seriously injured the grapes.
1t began to rain in the state OF the Golden Gate
n week ago last, Thursday. and has rained al
most continuously since then. The rains have
increased the price Of Tokay grapes In the mar.
ket, but few, IL any. shipments will be received
The California growers all ship their fruit
thru>t Ives directly TO the big commission
the lru,t packed in the orchards and deliver It
10 the cars direct. Such care Is taken with
Il that in dry weather winsY the ne i rSSd s,,I iroa
stations are sprinkled like city streets to protect
the fruit from dust. This, care In the prepara-
tion OF the fruit for market has won for the
Californians distinction above growers OF sim
liar fruit in other parts OF the United states.
fruit ranches, but there are also many, Chinese
and Japanese, and the patient. plodding, ways
the uniformity ofthc fruit in the boxes. 1t 10
said that II is only necessary TO show "a China
man 4 peach. and he Will I'LL a box with others
The demand for California fruit in New York
ers In green fruit in the United States estimates
that next year more than 100 car loads will be
s quantities hsTe; Of ine Winter nrg np pear rs from from i the Pacife
Slope. principally OF Winter Nellis and Easter
Benrre;, They will last until spring.
New fork's appetite for fruit IL 50 great that
last year one-ffth OF the entire, orange crop of
Florida came TO this city for local consumption.
This does not include the fruit brought here to
b. shipped toother places. The New York agents
Of the Florida Fruit Exchange, which is the
largest fruit organization in the world, handled
200, 900 boxes of Florida oranges last year, and
believe that this season, they will, require 400
900 boxes at least to I'LL the city demand. The
crop this season Is expected 10 reach, 5,OoO,OOO
boxes. and some pme have already ar
rived, but the oranges are somewha green and
not sweet. They are selling at from Sl.75 to
S2.25 a box. The oranges are all brought here
by the Ocean Steamship Company by way or
SAY annah and by the Clyde line from Jack sOn-
VILE. The fruit II all sold at auction, and there
are Go ssiss s1%0,, a Ia El In ,hs s orsSSs, are being
sent 10 England by each steamer now, and pres
ent prices for them In Liverpool are high. This
is due 10 the fact that when they arrived the
Liverpool market was bare OF oranges, the SPAN
boxes were sent from here last week. and IL 10
thought that 10000 will go during the season.
Last seasons shipments were $4,000 boxes.
Malaga grapes, as they are commonly called.
the dealers say, as they were last year, owing To
the ravagea OF the phyloxera In spain. These
grapes come from Almeris, and in the trade are
known as Aimeris grapes; Last year 2oS; 0Vo
is estimated that only 100000 barrels will
COM over this year, The first cargo 10
arrive was sold last Tuesday at from
$3.50 TO So a barrel. The sale was not
the other side for u steamer and the steamers
cargo became heated on the voyage. Almeria
grapes can easily be kept for consumption dur
Ing the winter as they do not decay quickly. The
cent. Apples are the only fruit besides oranges
exported regularly from this country TO Eng
land. Eleven thousand barrels have been
shipped so far this season. The prices on the
was strong.