Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1909-06-26

/ ing or finis1, and the cured product
| finds its way at once to the ware
house of the packer. The cost OF an
evaporating plant to handle an or
chard of thirty-five to forty acres
will be according to the type Of ma
chine selected and according to the
taste Of the builder in the manner
! of construction, anywhere from
$500 to $4,000, and Is a part of
the fixed investment and cost OF the
orchard and should be figured upon
at the outset, but no orchard Is COM
! plete without its own drying plant.
! With such an orchard well located
in the Willamette valley an income
of from $4,000 to $4,000 can be
expected with as much or more regu-
larity than the producer OF almost
any other crop, and at a compare
lively light outlay Of expense, and
with less technical knowledge Of
horticulture than Is required for the
raising of almost any other fruit.
Packing and marketing Of the
Oregon prune is an industry by IT.
self of no small proportions. The
grower may belong TO a co-opera-
tive marketing and packing aszocia-
tion; otherwise, he will sell his crop
for cash, paid whom delivered to the
packing warehouse, or I. o. b. the
cars At his own station. The value
of his product is arrived at by the
size which his fruit will average.
The packer then puts the fruit
through a grading machine which
assorts II into sizes. 20s TO sos, 30s
to 40s, 40s to SOS, sos. to COS, etc.
Twenty TO thirty pruaes to the pound
makes what is commercially known
as 20s to sos. Each separate size
OF fruit as above described then
finds It's wry to its respective bin,
and later Il is taken to the sterIllz-
ing machine for cleaning and is
made ready TO All orders, each par
| ticular size OF fruit being handled
separately The modern method OF
preparing and packing OF Oregon
prunes has entirely dispen ed with
the use of preparations or dips, alb
olutely nothing a. now used by the
packers OF Oregon prunes except the
process OF cleaning and sterilizing.
Each packer, OF course, has his own
methods and peculiar idea as to
how the best results are obtained,
and he operates his packing plants
| dtNbluiukAgt OuN II 10 uOW Wtll
known fact that Oregon prunes prop
erly cured and packed will keep
with ordinary care for an indefinite
period.
The package mort popular with
the trade just now 10 the twenty
five pound box, although some mar
kets still take large quantities OF
the fifty-pound size. There is also
somo demand for the ten-pound
size, which 10 sold direct to the con-
sumer without being broken up and
this is tho sensible and sanitary
way to buy the fruit. Many times
more pruncs would be sold TO the
best class Of trade II their attention
was drawn TO the real merit OF Ore
gon prunes a a food and TO the per-
fectly clean character OF the fruit
as II reaches them In the ten-pound
package, coming directly from the
sterilizing plant TO the consumer as
IL should. When the dust and dirt
OF the retail grocery store. and the
open box, bin or bag OF prunes can
be replaced by package or by a
container OF como sort which will
reach the Coz -umCr as originally
packed-similar 10 seeded raisins-
then there VIII come the day OF the
prune, 70: no cured fruit posse ses
greater merit.
The annual production OF this
/ fnit during tho past few years has
increased rapidly, but no more rap
| idly thar the power 10 consume
them, for there has been no over
I production, save In the year 1902.
The annual production from the
| present acreage may be aid TO run
in round numbers about 100000
pounds While the crop OF 1908
was only about half that quantity.
The present years crop may be ex-
pectcd 10 reach the full average. II
publicity campaign could be
applied to this product the writer
of this article believes that the pro-
duotion might be several times
doubled and th product would be
all taken up at remuneratiye prices
to the producer. II only remains for
the consuming public in this and
foreign countries TO know the quail
! ity and merit contained in Oregon
prunes in order 70 make them one OF
the most popular everyday dishes
In millions OF homes where they are
! today nnknOWQ