New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-20
THE PRUNE IN CALIFORNIA
HARVESTING A. VALUABLE CROP.

on,,h ~ the prune- growing interests OF |a"io
a.. ,ha last decade Notwithstanding uhusua's '
aging frosts last spring In the season OF '''e
,r q, dec,duous fruits throughout the lower part %
nus - ,,, vouev and all over the horticultural
,,ovs ~ pomona San Gabriel and Santa Ana 'ne
,oal nroduct Of green prupes In TINS state Is
estimated at So. 900 tons. OF this quanU'y aoou VIZ
of,h is now being shipped East as green run o' 'a
a, fr,,,,stands and for canning purposes Inc
,rr four-afths is being dried for market i'iaN'e
ebout a 900 tons of dried prunes Ten years "e0 ~"
80, orea ~ hearing prune orchards In California WAS
,.ss than 600 acres In 1858 there were H'oV acres
Of hearing prune trees and about o'VVfa0ie'
Young prune orchards. There was an import u'''s "
two and one-half cents a pound on drieu p'u''e' -
,,ose davs and the growers sold their crops on 'ne
,rees for sums varying from $So 10 y" 'o"' III 49,
49, .o.a, area Of bearing prune orchards was lS'oVo
..r.s and there was an enormous planting OF pru"e
trees that year in all of the frui'-sro"''s '"0' -
California because of the large pront III tue '''u'
Some 900 acres Of prune orchards were SET ou' "
che winter OF lSg0-9 and under the opera'io" Vi VI"
Mckinley Tariff law 1900 acres more "''o
PLANTED in the next years. THESE orcna'us nov
now come into bearing. and the State boaro OF iio"
culture finds that there to-day 5loVo acres VI
ING nrune orchards in this State. and ABOUT o'v'V a.
more vet 10 come into bearing tohse'Na''e -
rnates nut the total crop OF CALIFORNIA Piun "
tovorable wear at not less than 10000 tons III lew
wears more full yield Of the fruit in TINS 0'" VIII
bc inward of $500 tons of green fruit
EFFECT OF LOWER TARIFF
r-,,s,u Tariff law reduced the import duty on
dried prunes from two and one-haf cents pouiu ~
-. rant and the value Of the crop has gone uo"'
very randy in the last three years not"itils'aue
that the California prune had almost en''e'!
the produc, from France Italy and turkey from u"
American market In the season OF 49, so"u - -
fresh from the trees sold for 500 ION !" 1'
came nroduct brought s25 ton and last year inc
,~oa lousred 10 500 a ton. This year the very pest
,-rnes hiring SIS ton but the general indrAe' pi''
Sc 81, a ton There has been little or no pah.ihs Vi
the fruit for three years, and the present ou.'o "
.ha, there will be absolutely no setting out Oh pr"
orchards In California in the planting seaSo" "a '
winter , 49,.
,ha can,sl invested in the growing Of prunes-'ha.
Is in the land trees. fencing irrigation systems .
devices for watering prune groves 'ooiS 90 .
cultural inpleme n;s-is about N6,WN"t lie" 9e"'
ago the total capltai llVes'eu d" Wv
was less than $Sco.U ,,;o, 4,
.A,nerica il Santa Clara County Din the lesio''
round about San JOSEF, Cal. Inc area ~ 900
growing prunes in Santa cara Nou"'S ~ -.
oc-es which produced 1900 tons OF pruhes i"9.
- -o,oraI of the orchards there are by all
oads the largest in the world. and consist oi n.y.
and 500 acres each, or Of 4Seo or Own"
3he Sacramento Valley there are se'ei"i -
orchards Of 100 $50 acres each anu 'i'o
v;el Of in tnat lOCdlltN e"NH 80"
"a 900 tons In the last six years the heaVies. p''"
a., 90 nrune orchards has been in the san joaquin
Valley about Fresno. MERGED ana faheiS"e'u' -
syndicate of Boston men have total area Vi I'm
orchards amounting 5000 acres In FRESNO Noul'
~ In Southern California the most important
localities for the prune industry are IN fonioi'" anu
O., Gabriel valleys where thousands OF acres OF
land used only decade ago for grazing sheeP an"
cattle have been made luxuriant win prui'o o
chards stretching away across the Valleys as lar
as ones eye can see
SCENES IN THE ORCHARDS.
A. this season Of the year. when the prune crop
IN California is being gathered and drieo LOT maj
ket the scenes in the great orchaIuS "ie 'o"e
be remembered Thousands OF men, women anu
ohudren throughout the valleys OF Central ana
Southern California are busy I'm the pruhe oiciai u'
and at fruit packing houses THESE days ms -
the season TO which people In the hortlcui'uia'
districts of the State look for earning money an
puauv in handling the fruit product pruhe
orchard IN itself is of the most beautiful things
in the realm of horticulture. and when the 'hrohe
of happy workers are there 1t Is an interesting
sight The thousands of trees are planted In long
rows so exactly distant one from another ana III
such symmetry that one may look IN any olIec-
It,, auonp them and the alignment IS PERFECT.
Tho ground is soft and even. and the years Oh
monthly cultivation and care nave maze IL 30
smooth that not even pebble or cIod d Oiaoe
Of grass or the smallest weed may be seen any
where The regular rows OF trees. reaching sew
oral thousand feet away m every direction, give
the appearance Of mammoth aisles OF green caho-
pied by deep rich foliage through which the sun
shine percolates The sweet scent OF the rlpeheu
fruit the music OF birds. the men. women ana
children in various garb. the laughter and songs
of the workers as they pursue their active but COM
naratiyely easy vocation all combine 70 make
harvest scene in an extensive prune orchard
mixture of romance and commercial THRIFT.
When the fruit grower, who has been oaily
Of ri
that the fruit is so thoroughly ripened as to be
soft to the touch. he employs a force or workers.
Great sheets of cheap cloth are laid on the GROUND
beneath the trees while strong men snake the
trees and boys shake branches so that the prunes
NAV fall The sheets gathered up at the ends
and the fallen fruit poured into padded boxes, so as
TO avoid handling much as possible Tree aiter
tree is treated in this way once each day until the
crop Is gathered. The operation is often repeated
once each day for twenty days at some trees be
fore all the prunes harvested. Meanwhile the
gathered fruit has been carried TO the washing
boxes and the dipping cauldrons. The prunes are
put into great heavy wire cages, holding several
hundred pounds each. and are first dipped INTO
running water. where the dirt and dust are washed
away In moment moro the cage is elevated on q
crane and let down into caudron Of hot water
heavy with concentrated lye The purpose OF TINS
operation is TO remove the bloom and 10 crack
the skin that envelopes the flesh Of the prune, In
order that the drying process may take place
rapidly. In its natural state the skin is so
smooth and tough that It would take a week TO
dry the fruit properly for market. From the caul-
drons Of hot lye-water the cages OF prunes are
lifted again and once more plunged into hot clean
water. so that the I've may be washed away and
a gloss be given TO the fruit.
THE DRYING PROCESS.
Then comes the drying process. Girls and boys
with shallow wooden trays a yard square. and.
the prunes pour down from a hopper into which
they are dumped from the cages, deft hands spread
the product the trays in the twinkling Of tho
eye. A little tramway carries the trays and fruit
into the drying yard every minute, and there
the ground. covered for two or three acres with
cheap fabric the prunes are placed for dry
Ing by the sun There is "A strong sunshine twenty
h Inc day nlIf nf In month