300 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



the eastern markets every year. There are none like them in quality of 

 size and flavor. Besides being shipped green, they are sold to canners in 

 large lots and are dried in the sun, and sell well in this way. 



Early in the summer also apples of various kinds are shipped from Sac- 

 ramento to the States and Territories west of the Missouri. Apple culture ' 

 has been neglected, but certain varieties are very profitable, and should be 

 more extensively cultivated. Nectarines do well, but are not considered 

 as profitable as other fruits. 



Fall Fruits. — In the fall fruits we have apples, pears, grapes, quinces, 

 prunes, and peaches. Of these we will refer to only two — grapes and 

 prunes — the others having been already mentioned. 



Sacramento County is preeminently the home of the grape. While it 

 is true that grapes do well all over the northern and central part of Cal- 

 ifornia, yet it cannot be denied that on the red lands of the Sacramento 

 plains they reach their highest perfection. The table varieties include the 

 Flaming Tokays, the Muscat, Black Prince, Morocco, Emperor, Cornis- 

 chon, and some others have always brought good prices for shipment to 

 the East. These grapes are profitable at $15 to $20 per ton, but have 

 usually sold at from $40 to $60 per ton. 



French or petite prunes are becoming a leading fruit. They are remark- 

 ably prolific, and when cured, far excel in quality the imported article, 

 and bring much higher prices. While German prunes are being sold in 

 New York at 5 and 6 cents per pound, our Sacramento grown French 

 prunes readily bring 10 and 12 cents per pound here for shipment East. 

 The culture of the prune is simple. They do well in any land that is 

 suited for plums, and there is no difficulty whatever to cure and prepare 

 them for market. Fortunes can be made in this fruit beyond doubt. 

 Raisins are easily cured here, the weather being very favorable, and no 

 rains ever interfere with the drying process. 



Sacramento as a Fruit Shipping Center. — We now reach an important 

 feature in the fruit industry of Sacramento County, and one to which par- 

 ticular attention should be drawn. It may not be generally known, but it 

 is a fact that nearly 90 per cent of the green fruit (other than oranges) 

 that leaves the State of California for the Eastern States and Territories is 

 shipped from Sacramento. It is true that other adjacent fruit districts 

 supply some of this fruit, but it is shipped into Sacramento as the natural 

 center, and here billed out to eastern points. The quantity grown in Sac- 

 ramento County is large itself, and when there is added to this the product 

 of El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Solano, and other counties, the aggregate 

 becomes something immense. To move the vast quantity of fruit, entire 

 trains of ten to twelve, and sometimes more, cars each, are chartered and 

 run almost daily during the rush of the business. These trains are run 

 East on passenger train time, and at low rates of freight — still better rates 

 being expected soon. 



Besides these special fruit trains many carloads are dispatched daily 

 on passenger and freight trains, and the fruits of Central California are 

 now, as before stated, almost as well known in all the cities of the East as 

 in Sacramento. 



During the season just closing (October, 1887,) nearly three thousand 

 carloads of fruits and vegetables have been shipped from Sacramento to 

 eastern trade centers, and when this quantity is added to the immense 

 amount consumed by local and San Francisco canneries, an idea may be 

 had of the vast yield of the district tributary to Sacramento. 



The fruit shipping industry is yet in its infancy, but may now be con- 

 sidered as in a healthy condition, and bound to grow to gigantic proportions. 



