300 Appendix. 



France would be a good market for our Oregon prunes Is not correct, as the 

 French people can buy the Fellenberg prune right across the border In Southern 

 Germany, but there is a splendid market for our French prunes. Mr. Martineau. 

 representing the firm of A. E. Mouling, Bordeaux, France, recently called on 

 me regarding the purchase of prunes, and in our conversation I learned that he 

 wanted French prunes only, as he said they could not sell our Fellenberg prunes 

 at any price ; neither could he use California French prunes, as they were sun- 

 dried. He preferred our evaporated French prunes as being more like their 

 own ; In fact, they were sold in France as the French products. 



I do not belong to the society of knockers, but, as the Roycrofter says in 

 the Philistine, "It is well to be kind, but knocking has Its time and place 

 and propriety in the scheme of things." It seems to me that right here is a 

 time to "knock" at whomsoever is to blame for the congested condition of 

 the prune market. If these conditions prevail, and they seem to, as reflected 

 from the commercial reports, and If the dealers, either jobbers or retailers, 

 will not place these prunes within the means of the masses, then there Is but 

 one remedy, which Is not far to seek, and I am somewhat surprised that the 

 Fruit Growers' Association has not taken this matter up. I do not believe the 

 Association should enter the retail trade, yet, as self-preservation is supposed 

 to be the first law of nature, I do believe it a judicious move, under the existing 

 conditions, to establish distributing houses In the large manufacturing and labor 

 centers, to retail the Oregon prune at prices sufficiently remunerative to the 

 grower, and yet within the reach of laborers' wages. By way of further 

 education and advertisement I would suggest that, in connection with the 

 demonstration at the St. Louis Exposition, pamphlets be printed for distribu- 

 tion, setting forth the superior qualities of the Oregon prune, with recipes 

 how to prepare them properly for the table, and giving the address of a depot, 

 under control of the Oregon prune growers, centrally located, with telephone 

 connections, where these prunes could be purchased at retail, at prices which 

 would not only invite but compel purchase and consumption. 



There may be "too many prunes" of some kinds, but there never can be 

 "too many prunes" of the Fellenberg or Oregon prune. 



DESSERT PRUNES. 



By Felix Gillet, Nevada City, California. Read by Mr. H. M. Williamson at 

 Northwest Fruit Growers' meeting, Portland, January, 1904. 



To H. M. Williamson, Portland, Oregon : 



Seeing In the* papers that the fruit growers of the Northwest are going to 

 meet in convention at Portland this month to discuss questions of much Im- 

 portance to the people of that region, and knowing the deep interest that you 

 yourself take in those matters as editor of one of the best edited horticultural 

 papers published on the Coast, I thought of vailing myself of the opportunity 

 and submitting to your convention some points on prune curing that might 

 help that industry somewhat in the three Northwestern States — Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, and Idaho. 



I have In years past, as a strong advocate of the dessert prune, called the 

 attention of your fruit growers to the possibilities for them, since they have 

 to cure their prunes in evaporators, of turning out a perfect article, comparing 

 well with the best imported prunes which are selling in this country at such 

 high prices, and thus enlarging the scope of the prune industry on the Pacific 

 Coast. 



