140 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



wrought a complete revolution as to the quantity and quality of orchard 

 and vineyard products. 



The choicest varieties of trees and vines have been brought here by our 

 enterprising horticulturists from every soil and climate under the sun, and 

 from the experience gained by home experiments and by the study of the 

 horticulture of all countries, our orchardists and vineyardists have become 

 as skillful as any in the world. The advance made in vine growing and 

 wine making has been marvelous. Our wine, which nobody wanted ten 

 years ago, is now in demand in the Eastern States and is even meeting 

 with favor in Europe. 



Markets and Productions. 



The building of the transcontinental railways opened the markets of 

 the country west of the Missouri River to our orchard, vineyard, and gar- 

 den products. That market we now monopolize without competition. 

 The extent of the present and future demand for our products in that 

 market may be judged from the immense area of the country, and the 

 rapidity of its development in wealth and population. Following upon 

 our occupation of this intra-montane market, came the demand for our 

 fruits, wine, and vegetables in all the States to the Atlantic Coast. There 

 are now in the State from one hundred and sixty thousand to two hundred 

 thousand acres of vineyards, and the officers of the Viticultural Commis- 

 sion estimate that the manufacture of wine this season will reach eighteen 

 million gallons. Last year we produced six hundred thousand twenty- 

 pound boxes of raisins, and this year's product will reach nearly one 

 million boxes. The improvement in the quality of the raisins and in the 

 manner of packing for market has more than kept pace with the increase 

 in amount, till now our raisins of all grades compare favorably with those 

 of foreign countries, and have the first call in the eastern markets. The 

 shipments of green fruits to the East the present season by freight trains, 

 passenger trains, and by express, will equal two thousand carloads of ten 

 tons each, and shows a large increase over the season of 1886. This fruit 

 goes to almost every section of the Eastern. States, and the demand for it 

 is rapidly increasing each year. It is not only in the trans-Missouri 

 country and in the Eastern States that our green fruits are in demand. 

 Some of our orchardists are making large ship*ments of fruits to the 

 islands of the Pacific, and to Australia and New Zealand. Mr. De Long, 

 of this committee, ships annually from his Marin County orchards several 

 thousand boxes of apples to Australia, and finds a good demand at remu- 

 nerative prices. 



Canneries and Driers. 



As large as are the volumes of the green fruit shipments they are small 

 compared to the quantities which are used by the one million two hundred 

 and fifty thousand people of the State, and by our canneries and driers. 

 During the past season the numbers of driers and canneries which have 

 been established have been very large. Many of the canneries are large 

 establishments, employ several hundred people each, and put up thou- 

 sands of tons of fruit. The amount of fruit canned in 1887 reaches more 

 than fifty million pounds. Driers and evaporators have been built in all 

 the fruit districts, and in some of these districts the bulk of the crop has 

 either been taken by them or sun-dried. The amount of green fruit dried 

 was fifty-five million five hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, 

 making more than ten million pounds of dried fruit taken by them. The 

 canned, dried, and evaporated fruit of 1887 is many times greater than it 



