THE MONTHLY BULLETIN". 



387 



finishing process takes place in the stack. Under normal weather 

 conditions it takes from ten days to two weeks to cure prunes. It has 

 been found most satisfactory while the fruit is on the trays in the dry 

 vard, to give the fruit, at least, one turning by hand, shaking the trays 

 or with brooms, so that the fruit secures an equal drying on all sides. 

 It also materially lessens the time of drying and makes a finer grade of 

 fruit. Do not take your fruit 'from the trays until it is thoroughly 

 cured. This word of caution means the salvation of your business. 



A packer cannot turn out, to the trade, a first class article unless 

 that article is delivered to him by the producer. During the past years 

 most of the complaint against the keeping qualities of the prune has 

 been due to the desire on the part of the grower to retain too much of 

 the original weight in the prune, wdth the result that he has delivered 

 prunes to the packing houses which were not properly cured. In many 

 instances, these prunes have not been detected at the packing-house 

 door and have found their w^ay to the trade, with the result that fer- 

 mentation has set in and the buyer of the California prune loses con- 

 fidence in the commodity and refuses to handle a commodity against 

 which he has incurred heavy losses. 



Good prunes, well cured, will build up and encourage an ever increas- 

 ing demand. Prunes poorly cured will tear down and discourage this 

 demand, so that before taking your prunes from the trays be positive 

 in your own mind that they are properly cured. After properly curing, 

 the fruit is taken from the dry yard to the dried fruit house of the 

 orchard and there dumped into bins. From there it is sacked and 

 delivered to the packing-house. 



Every fruit producer should know by actual and careful testing what 

 each load of fruit tests to the pound when .he delivers to a packing- 

 house, no matter to whom he is delivering. This is not only justice to 

 himself, but it is justice to the man with whom he is dealing. If he 

 knows positively what his fruit tests, he will ordinarily have no com- 

 plaint to make at the test he secures from his packer, but if he does not 

 make such a test, he is apt to be dissatisfied. 



At the packing-house the fruit is carefully graded into the different 

 grades, varying from 30 to 40 prunes to the pound up to prunes running 

 smaller than 120 to the pound. The grades as to weight and size are 

 obtained by passing the fruit over a large grader which consists of a 

 series of screens of different sizes, commencing with the smaller size 

 and increasing to just a trifle larger size every three or four feet. 

 There are from eight to nine different screens, the larger fruit passing 

 over the end of the grader. As the fruit comes from the grader it is 

 carefully tested and taken to the proper bin. From there it is taken 

 as required for packing purposes to the processor or cleanser. The 

 fruit in the field has been subjected to considerable dust and dirt, as 

 well as insect life. The processor or cleanser conveys the fruit through 

 a long vat of boiling hot water, thoroughly washing and cleansing the 

 fruit. From the processor, the fruit is dumped on a long shaker which 



