REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. Ill 



China and Japan are not reported as they are principally 

 consumers. 



It will be noticed that, like the United States and Canada, 

 nearly all Europe expects to harvest a bountiful crop of fruits, 

 and, as Consul Adolf L. Frankenthal, of Berne, aptly re- 

 marks, " This is what is called a fruit year." But, unlike 

 ourselves, they seldom produce enough for home consump- 

 tion, except prunes, leaving still a fine field for exportation 

 of our fine apples and Fellenberg (Italian) prunes. The 

 most noticeable fact in looking over the estimated percentage 

 is the large yield of prunes, notably the French prunes in 

 the districts of the valley of the Loire, and the small prunes 

 of Turkey, Servia and Bosnia, though inferior in every 

 respect to the Pacific Coast grown prunes, are nevertheless a 

 factor in keeping down prices, especially for sizes running 

 from eighty to one hundred and twenty to the pound. 



The consuls report to me at great length, and some of the 

 suggestions are of so much value that I trust you will kindly 

 allow me to quote : 



Mr. Hugo Henzelman, of Prague, says : "If only you could 

 iind a way by which your fruit could be gotten into this market 

 here, referring especially now to fresh fruit, you would be sur- 

 prised at the quantity that could be sold here, for it is a fact 

 not to be disputed that the people here, both rich and poor, 

 are really wanting our fruits, the rich because it has a finer 

 flavor and excels the home fruit here in every way, and the 

 poor because they could buy our fruit cheaper here than the 

 fruit grown here." 



Mr. Talbot J. Albert, Consul at Brunswick, says : "Each 

 year the demand for our fresh and dried fruit increases in 

 (lermany. This is ascribed to the improved condition of the 

 working population, which now enjoys the consumption of 

 fruits more than formerly." 



Consul-General Frank H. Mason writes from Berlin : "From 

 all the sources, and from a special report just made, I learn 

 that the outlook in Prussia is meager for apples, pears, and 

 prunes (see percentage table) . The spring was very late, 

 •dry and cold, late frosts injured the blossoms in many dis- 

 tricts ; then came profuse and continuous rains, which have 

 greatly injured all fruits. There will be an eager and abun- 

 dant market for American dried fruits in Germany this year." 



The Consul at Bordeaux, France, Mr. Albion W. Tourgee, 

 Avho writes at great length, makes some very good points. 



