The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-05-21
A NEW YORK LETTER.
Good News to Lovers of Fruit-It WIN be
Plenuful.thls Year

next a carload Of luscious fruit will arrive
here
This will be the first contribution Of the
season.
They are not hot-house cherries, not a
bit Of il, but big, sweet, why, waxy, red
and white fruit-and as fine a crop as ever
came from the orchards of San Jose. - -
A tremendous supply the growers
promise, but tremendous consumption
the importers anticipate, and although
the crop is big the distribution will be
as wide as the continent and consequently
the supply will be small.
The hoodoo year. just past, was most
disastrous to the fruit people. Nobody
made any money. Consumers served
dried apples for breakfast, and ice-cream
for dinner, and importers sold the soft
and tropical fruits for barely more than
the shipping cost. Thousands of cargOss
were taken back to the sea and thrown
overheard, because the consigners could
not afford TO land the cases at 10 cent each
that would only bring 40 cents on the
pier
But times are brighter now. There is a
marked activity in the fruit market and
a general belief that the worst is over.
Prices are not high, but they are firm,
and it is past all denying that people are
tired of dried fruits and meats and want
a change.
lnlA AtNfhlDE lOF DlIlcF-SWttI. dSlut
from the natural demand, is shown by
the extraordinary local consumption.
Last week 10000 boxes of lemons were
sold 5000 boxes were used Friday alone .
it took 10000 barrels of pineapples, Of
about - each, to satisfy the New Workers
and $4,000 punches of bananas.
The consumption of domestic fruits
including straw berries, oranges, lemons
bananas, apples, grapes and pineapples
averaged 100000 packages every day last
week.
The medicinal value Of fruit is better
understood than formerly. Doctors them
selves prescribe il instead of drugs for
people who "feel bad" but can't tell
what ails them. The ranks Of the pro
fessional cooks are being invaded by
sensible and practical teachers who cry
down pie and doughnuts, tarts and dump
lings, and preach up the wholesome
economy of fruit desserts
| Then there are the vegetarians, the
disciples of the scholarly wizard who in
vented the Aladdin oven, and the cranks
| mo Oifense is meant) who honestly believe
we are going back TO the natural food
! fruit and nuts-all of whom are unconsci.
ously strengthening the fruit markets of
| the world.
| In 1892 it took two weeks to get Cali
! fornia fruit into this city; now it is de
! livered in ten days. The trip is made i'm
| refrigerator cases, packed like trunks in
! the car, and is the fastest fruit freight in
| the world The fruit is picked a trihe
under ripeness, and it is a Characteristic
of the California products that they
! Garry" better than if shipped ripe.
| Cherries will not be cheap in here nor
will any other California fruit for that
matter Chicago is the centre of an i'm
mense market, and every year the growers
show a disposition to favor that market
In 1891 the fruit freight from California
amounted to 1887 carloads. The distribu.
tion was Chicago, 654 carloads; New
| York, 25S; Minneapolis, Ill; Omaha, "a;
Boston, 81; New Orleans, 50; st. Paul, 54
st. Louis, "A; Kansas City, 20 Louisville
9; Buffalo, /.
Last year 600 carloads, came to this
city but Chicago consumed 5000 carloads
Between June and November New York
will receive 900 carloads, of 20 600 pounds
of fresh fruits each, from California; Other
sources of supply near home will aEgre
gate immense receipts, probably 3O,OOO,OO
pounds.
In 1888 $4,000 pounds of California fruits
were sold in this city; in 1892 the sales
amounted to 100000 pounds; in 1898 tC
I2O,0OO,0OO this years consumption viii
exhaust the supply.
These fruit products amount to S35, 600
OOO more than the cold product, the out
put of gold aveIU-.ug si",uuuUJ,, WI
the fruit haryests S5O,OOO,OUO annually
Land that in '49 was only used to dig out
gold ore now grows wheat and fruit tC
the value of SlOO,O0O.OOO
Formerly Spain, Turkey and Italy sup
piled America with llOOOO,OOO pounds Of
raisins and prunes annually, but Cali
fOrnia varieties are so much finer in sizI
and flavor that foreign fruits are being
driven out of the market. In 1891 Cali
fOrnia supplied the domestic trade with
I2IOOO 600 pounds of prunes and $1,000, OOl
pounds of rasins. Only 9,OOO,GOO pounds
of prunes and lSOOO,OOO pounds of raisins
were imported against 81 ,OO0,O poundl
of prunes and 44OOO,O 600 pounds of raisins
imported the year previous, showing d
diminutiOn of 100000 pounds of dried
fruit in one year.
Every crop of California fruit is sweetel
and larger than the last, the art of cult
vation being brought to such perfection
that the products are unrivalled.
, One famous little ranch, bought fol
50, 900 by a retired army surgeon and pu
into prune orchards, is now yielding
100000 year.
While the choicest and largest crops OF
fruit come from the Golden Gate, there
are sections about the Gulf States that
are as rich as the Garden of Eden. About
Mississippi are the richest tomato fields
in the world. Crops are ready the miC die
OF June, and they are absolutely reliable
Florida is a great orange grove, anC
growing all the time, the yield averaging
100000 boxes, or about one-third of the
California supply. England is cultivat
ing a fancy for American oranges, and by
the way of experiment, 100 600 boxes were
recently shipped to Russia
The peaches grown in Georgia are as
choice as the choicest hot house fruits
Marshallville has the glory of growing
the "Elbertan the most luscious frui
that ever came from a tree New Yorl
will have the first pick, and the CARLOAD
due the first week in June will contain
10000 pounds ready to be peeled, cut ant
smothered in cream and sugar. During
July and August "A 100000 packages o
peaches will come into the New Yorl
market from Georgia, Delaware, Jerse!
and Michigan.
Last week $4,000 barrels of pineapples
of sixty five apples each, were received
from Havana. This was the largest pine
apple receipt in the history of the New
York Fruit Exchange The fruit is ex
cellent and will continue plentiful 70
three months. After that the Bahama
and Florida pineapples will be ripe. Cub
grows this fruit all the year, The suppl.
drops off when the peaches are ripe, be
cause it doesn't pay the growers to handl
il, the freight being 20 cents ON eacl
barrel, and the demand being for soft
| fruit