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BETTER FRUIT 



Page 25 



THIS 2 UNIT PUNT "Did Wonders" 



Last Summer 



Built in Various Sizes 



It is the 



MOST EFFICIENT 



EUAPORATOR 



It dries "Fancy" Dried Fruit of all kinds in record time, which brings "Fancy" 

 prices, with low^ production cost. Mone "iust Uke it." Mone "lust as good." 



It makes Apples at 8c dry pound worth $15 per green ton. mquire 



PERFECT CONTROL OF TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY AND CIRCULATION. 1005 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, PORTLAND, OREGON- 



The Outlook for Prunes 



THE subject of this article is not in 

 any sense new, and in approacli- 

 ing it one naturally wonders what 

 new thing can be said. Perhaps a look 

 behind may give us some suggestion as 

 to the possibilities of the future. Ore- 

 gon prunes, like many other products 

 possessing much merit, have passed 

 through their i)erio(l of storm and the 

 producers have had their times of trial 

 and tribulation. Their dark days, how- 

 ever, were not of long duration and 

 niav be said to have begun and ended 

 between the years 1902 and 1904. The 

 cause may be attributed to over-pro- 

 motion in the sale of lands and planted 

 young orchards at the very inception 

 of the prune-growing idea in the North- 

 west, or perhaps to be more correct, 

 we should say undei'-developnient of 

 the markets in anticipation of the com- 

 ing new product. It was not a small 

 task to introduce, or rather to force 

 upon the markel, a competitor of the 

 California French ]3runes, which at 

 that lime had just about reached the 

 height of its popularity. 



The Oregon prune was not wanted by 

 the wholesale merchants of this coun- 

 try and there was good business rea- 

 soning in their objection to placing in 

 Iheir stock another variety of prune en- 

 tirely different, unknown, and accord- 

 ing to their argument of doubtful qual- 

 ity. The result was that for a time 

 when the majority of i)rune orchards 

 had reached the stage of full bearing 

 that there was overproduction, meas- 

 ured by the demand. In fact there was 

 no demand. The demand had yet to be 

 created. It would be a long and not 

 uninteresting story to recite the ex|)e- 

 riences through which we passed at 

 about that period, but that is another 

 story. .Suflice it to say that the sales of 

 the product at less than cost of jjro- 

 duction forced matters in two ways: 

 First, it forced some of the most un- 

 likely orchards and their owners out of 

 the business, and, second, the very 

 cheai)ness of the fruit forced consumi)- 

 tion. Then wc began to learn some 

 things concerning the necessary appli- 



By H. S. Gile, Salem, Oregon 



cation of sterilization processes to the 

 fruit in order to properly fit it for 

 keeping. Also by that method we soon 

 found that the fruit was improved in 

 quality so that there was nnich less 

 danger of the careless cook serving the 

 fruit improperly prepared. 



Orchardists have also learned that 

 there were certain sections, certain ele- 

 vations, certain soils, certain slopes, 

 where the fruit produces most regu- 

 larly and ripens the best quality of 

 prunes for eva]joration, while other 

 districts can ])roduce the same fruit 

 better for fresh shipment. All of these 

 exijeriences may be had by the amateur 

 who may wish to become a grower of 

 prunes. He can start assured that he 

 will avoid some of the rocks which 

 have caused wrecks in the past. Not 

 only had the home markets to be culti- 

 vated, but it soon became apparent that 

 if any large success was to be gained 

 we must get into the large foreign mar- 

 kets, and there again those of us who 

 may be said to have i)ioneered the mar- 

 keting of the Northwest prune in<lustry 

 had a still harder struggle, coming as 

 we did in direct contact and opposition 

 with the (then called) Turkish prune 

 and the French prune and carrying the 

 battle very close to the base of Iheir 

 sui)ijlies. A foothold was gained lirst 

 in England and from that it has spread 



until practically all of the European 

 countries, in a greater or less extent, 

 have received our fruit, and had it not 

 been for the war, Italy, France and 

 Switzerland would this year have 

 taken considerable shiimients of Ore- 

 gon prunes. Small shipments only have 

 gone to these countries heretofore. I 

 am referring now entirely to the so- 

 called Italian i)rune. 



During the last several seasons the 

 demand may be said to have exceeded 

 the supply and it should be said frankly 

 that horticultui-ists should not base 

 their calculations upon these extreme 

 values in forming their personal esti- 

 mate of the outlook for prunes. How- 

 ever, it is not necessary that they 

 should. The truth concerning the net 

 results of the prune product in Ore- 

 gon, based ui)on a fair average of sev- 

 eral seasons, makes the story quite 

 good enough. 



Just a word here concerning Oregon 

 I'rench prunes. They seem to be strong 

 growers and certain producers in any 

 place where the other variety of prune 

 does well, but there are sections in 

 Oregon where the French prune seems 

 to be esi)ecially at home and the quality 

 produced is not surpasse<l by any 

 French |)rune grown in any country in 

 the wide world. Having recently spent 

 several months in the heart of the pro- 



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MANUFACTURERS OF 



Tents, Awnings, Covers 



Canvas Goods of All Descriptions 



Hammocks, Camp Furniture, Etc. 



Telephone: Main 1.5!5() 

 16 North Front St., corner Burnside, PORTLAND, OREGON 



Special tents to order for housing fruitgrowers' extra help during strawberry and 

 apple picking seasons. Extra large tents to order for apple growers, suitable for stor- 

 ins apples as they come from the orchard: also, suitable for grading machines and 

 apple packers. Weather-proof canvas wagon covers a specialty. 



WHEN WRITING Ain ERTISF.BS MENTION BETTER ERCIT 



