STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 15 



FRUIT GROWING AND SHIPPING. 



This is a subject that has been written upon, probably more than have 

 all the remainder of California productions. 



There is, however, no more clanger of its being overwritten, than there is 

 of an overproduction of the fruit yield. 



We are fully prepared to care for the surplus by supplying to the sixty 

 million people of these United States, the products of our orchards, either 

 as green, canned, or dried fruit. 



An eminent fruit grower of this State, who was requested to furnish a 

 paper for this volume upon " the fruit industry, and shipping for the pres- 

 ent and future," responded with the annexed epitome upon the subject, 

 which should be printed in " letters of gold :" 



There is still room in California for thousands of intelligent fruit growers, such as will 

 plant the right thing in the right place, take proper care of the trees when growing, prune 

 properly, abstain from irrigation, except where absolutely necessary; when in hearing thin 

 properly, pick at the right stage of ripeness, and pack nicely iii clean boxes; fight all 

 damaging insects and fungi, with the best implements and insecticides to be had, and 

 otherwise use all the intelligence they have to their business. 



I believe that eternal vigilance is the price of good fruit in this or any other country, 

 and for that reason think there will always be good prices for good fruit. 



Concert of action and union of purpose among fruit growers is all that is necessary to 

 make fruit shipping profitable, and maintain it SO. 



SPECIAL FRUIT TRAINS. 



Before the commencement of the fruit-shipping season of 1886 the 

 Southern Pacific Company made a proposition to the fruit growers and 

 shippers that whenever fifteen carload lots of fruit should be offered at one 

 time, the same should be carried to the Eastern States as a special fruit 

 train, and should be run on fast time approximating passenger train time, 

 at the special rate of $300 per car of ten tons, which was one half the rate 

 previously charged for passenger train service. 



The rate above named referred to Chicago and common points, while to 

 Missouri River points the rate was $280 per car of like capacity. 



On June 24, 1886, the first train was loaded and shipped, being char- 

 tered by the fruit-shipping firms of W. R. Strong & Co. and Edwin T. Earl, 

 of Sacramento, and consisted of fifteen cars of fruit. This was positively 

 the first full train of deciduous fruits ever shipped from California. Dur- 

 ing the summer of 1886 these two firms, assisted by one or two other 

 shippers, dispatched to the East twenty-one special trains, all of fifteen 

 cars each, and during the same time the California Fruit Union, an organ- 

 ization of fruit growers, shipped eight special trains, making a total of 

 twenty-nine special fruit trains during the season. Besides these special 

 trains, a large number of single carload lots were shipped both by passen- 

 ger and freight trains, the former at the old rate of $600 per car, and the 

 latter on the slow freight rate of $300. 



It was expected that these special trains, by being run on fast time and 

 at low rate of freight, would revolutionize the entire fruit business of the 

 coast — that they would by bringing the fruit in a fresh condition and at 

 low cost to the hands of eastern consumers, create a demand that would 

 fully tax our present capacity to produce, and solve in a manner entirely 

 satisfactory the question, whether or not shipments of green fruits East 

 would be profitable. 



These expectations were not realized by this first experiment, but on the 

 contrary, the special fruit train system proved a failure, for several reasons: 



