190 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



term evaporated fruit with that of dried fruit of years agone, for the newer 

 process gives a cured product much superior to the sun or oven dried 

 article, retaining as it does much of the original color and flavor, being 

 soft, pliable and palatable to eat out of hand. The process of evaporation 

 has for its object, primarily, to drive off a sufficient amount of moisture to 

 make the fruit keep, and to do this in sUch a manner as to leave the fruit in 

 the condition above described, and leave the flesh of a transparent appear- 

 ance ; a clear yellow in the case of the French prune, and an amber in the 

 case of the Italian. No prune which has not these characteristics has been 

 propei-ly cured. 



AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF CURED PRUNES. 



All prtines. 



Waste (pits) 12.95 



Edible matter 87.04 



Water 19. 27 



Dry matter 80.73 



Albumenoids 2.(P, 



Sugar .SO. 97 



Carbohydrates (including fibre and fat) 45.51 



Ash 2.22 



Total 80.73 



There are two or three samples in the table which are worthy of special 

 attention. The first is 1284, called by the grower, Mr. Skidmore, of Wilbur, 

 Oregon, " The American Seedling." These, I think, were the finest prunes 

 I had ever seen. Mr. Skidmore informed me that the fruit sent was not 

 exceptionally large. It will be noted that the fruit carries over ninety per 

 cent, of edible matter, and is not approached in this respect by any except 

 •'The Dosch,"' and the Willamette. Another point worthy of note is the 

 exceptionally high content of albumenoids, over one per cent, higher than 

 the average. If the tree is horticulturally suited to the Oregon condition it 

 is certainly worthy of close attention. Other varieties promising distinct 

 advantages over either the Petite or the Italian, from the food standpoint, 

 would seem to be the Willamette and The Dosch. It is impossible to judge 

 of .the sugar value of any of these varieties until samples of the fresh fruit 

 have been examined. 



The average of all analyses shows prunes to contain about seven times as 

 much edible matter as waste (pits). The fruit which had satisfactory keeping 

 qualities carried about twenty per cent, of water, From the observations 

 made I do not regard it as safe to leave a greater quantity of water than this 

 in the fruit. In most cases where the fruit carried over this there was a 

 tendency toward mould. Much of the fruit, it will be noted, carried con- 

 siderable less than this, which accords with the idea of the better horticul- 

 turists that much of the pi^oduct is overdried. The fact that this product 

 carries about eighty per cent, of dry matter shows that it is of high food 

 value. About three-eights of this is composed of the carbohydrates which 

 serve to develop energy and fat, hence prunes must be considered as essen- 

 tially a fattening food, and should be used with other foods rich in nitrogen. 



