The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-03-23
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washincton. D. q.
A PLEA FOR PRUNEs.

A PLEA FOR PRUNEs.
Washington, D. C., March 2o.-Eot
Prunes!
This behest is endorsed by H. p.
Gould, a pomologist of the department
of agriculture, who has devoted much
of his life to the study of prunes and
prune is being neglected in this coun-
| try to the detriment OF both the prune
and the eating public.
This, of course, is all good propa-
ganda fo-- the prune growers. But
| the prune growers, it appears, are not
| in immediate need of any help Find
ing that the American public is turn
ling away from, the prune, they nave
protected themselves by the simple ex-
pedient of not raising SO many. In a.
greatly reduced. AS result, the price
Of prunes has gone UP. and the prune
growers are more prosperous than
ever And there is another reason
why they need not worry. In Europe
an enormous appetite for prunes
awaits them as soon as the conditions
| of international trade-are settled.
1t is therefore the American public
| that is to suffer and not the prune
grower. The prune is becoming scarce
on the American market ana there.
fore high priced. Above all, the best
prunes will go abroad, and America
will get mostly the small and measly
| prunes, In this way one OF the most
valuable fruits produced in TINS coun-
| try is apt to be taken away from US
For it is generally agreed by ex-
perts that the prune has high value
| in the diet. The trouble with our
winter diet is that it does not contain
enough fruit. Fresh fruit is very ex-
pens,ve in winter. So is canned fruit
of a good grade. Dried fruit Is the
poor mans best hope of a healthy
winter diet And the prune is the
nrince of dried fruits. 1t is the most
delicate, the most easily prepared, and
the one which can be most easily re-
stored TO condition like that of fresh
fruit Take a large, high-grade prune,
( soak it in water over night, and in the
morning you will have practically a
| ripe plum.
The Prune's Bad Rep.
| Why, if it has all these virtues, is
the prune fallen from favor? There
are several reasons. American house
wives have never learned to- cook
prunes properly. for one thing For
another, imported prunes of small size
and poor flavor long held the market
here, before prunes began to be raised
, in this country, and that gave the
prune a bad name. 1t is that bad
name, acquired long ago. which keeps
/ the prune> out OF It's proper place III
| the American diet.
The problem is a psychological ons
The prune has come to be considered
| a plebeian dish. There can be no doubt
| of that. To call a man full of
prunes" is to malign both his intellect
| and his social standing. The irnplica-
! ton is that any one who eats prun IS
| is somehow damned. This curious
! connotation which the word prune car
ries with it is vague, hard to define,
yet unmistakable. This is a demo-
| cratic country. In democratic
country it is always the great object
of everyone to appear aristocracic.
| The theory of democracy is that we
are all equal. For that reason each of
us is trying to prove that he is a
| little better than somebody ol.e. We
avoid, as we would avoid the ga
| ment of leper, everything that is
supposed to be proletarian- And the
| prune has come to, be considered pro-
letarian fruit in this country. Be it
ever SO luscious, it cannot live down
its humble reputation. When your
rich aunt comes to visit you, you would
not think of offering her prunes for
| breakfast
The prune long was cheap, the
prune was a subject for vaudeville
jokes 1t is in the same class with
, red flannel underwear and chewing to-
| people. 1t has fallen under the terri
BILE taboo which our unconscious snob-
berry places upon so many good things.
The Fall in Production.
| AS a result of this anti-prune senti-
| ment the 1920 prune crop in the four
great prune-producing states fell off
| more than 20 per cent. California in
| 1919 produced 2So,000,000 pounds of
| prunes, but in 1920 only lS0,000,000
pounds.
A prune is merely plum having
certain qualities not possessed by other
plums. All prunes are plums, but not
all plums are prunes.
This close connection between the
| prune and plum has been the means
by which some prune. growers have
| overcome the popular prejudice
against the product A prune in its
fresh state is sold as plum.
| The growers and dealers realized
| that a sign announcing fresh prunes
| for sale" would only arouse mirth, and
| SO sold them under the general family
| name. As plums the prunes have-been
enormously popular, the housekeeper
| as a rule preferring them for pre-
serves and marmalades to other plums
| Millions of Americans have eaten
prunes disguised as plums and en-
| joyed them. And these same people
would have scoffed at the idea of eat
ing and enjoying a prune.
| Few housewives really know how to
prepare prunes appetizingly. This
| latter reason, as one of the causes of
| the appropriately of the prune, is adj
vanced by Mr.. Gould. Housewives,
Mr.. Gould believes, are, as a rule, too
much in a hurry to cook the prune as
it should be cooked to bring out it's
| finest flavor.
They forget" he says, that before
the prune can be really appreciated,
| it must be restored to it's original
state-plump, juicy, and tempting. In
drying, the moisture from the prune is
entirely removed. In cooking, it
should be restored. Before cooking.
Fin fact, prunes should be permitted to
absorb as much water as they viii
hold
| Nine-tenths of the prunes produced
Mn the United States are marketed