140 SERVIA - MISCELLANEOUS 



a third portion, consisting of the worst kind of plums, is distilled to 

 make brandy. 



The industry of plum drying is very thriving, Servian plums having 

 a good name abroad. To encourage it, the State provides improved 

 stoves at half their real value and instructs agricultural engineers to 

 teach the peasants how to work them. It also organizes special courses 

 of instruction in plum drying, to qualify the peasants for making prunes 

 which are sufficiently dry and will keep long. 



With a view to preventing the sale of prunes, either damaged, not suffi- 

 ciently dry or made from plums not sufficiently ripe, and of combating fraud, in 

 the plum season the Government appoints a committee of three judges, who 

 have generally been through the agricultural schools, to examine the prunes 

 ofEered for sale and give certificates of good quality when deserved. The pur- 

 chaser may demand the production of this certificate. If the prunes are 

 found to be bad, if they have been made from plums not sufficiently ripe, 

 or mixed with prunes of previous years, they are ordered to be confiscated 

 officially. The prunes are immersed in water for 24 hours and re- 

 turned to the owner, after payment of the cost of the operations. Incase of 

 fraud, the dealer is prosecuted. If the plums are found to be insufficiently 

 dried, the owner must take them back to complete the drying process. 



In case good prunes have been mixed with those of inferior quality, 

 the owner has to sort them on the spot. The insufficiently dried plums are 

 sold by auction for the benefit of the town, after their transformation. 



Servian prunes are principally exported to Austria, Germany, Belgium, 

 Holland, Denmark, Great Britain, vSwitzerland and Russia. They are an 

 important article of trade as the following table shows : 



Year Quintals I?xported Value in Francs 



1900 271,546 8,001,482 



I9OI 229,526 6,990,844 



1902 354,615 8,951,294 



1903 156,641 5,013,360 



1904 405,023 6,274,544 



1905 376,139 8,556,347 



1906 482,701 12,067,520 



1907 426,480 15,743,616 



1908 490,417 10,350,721 



Ivike the prunes, the plum jam is also subjected to the inspection of 

 the committee. It is an important article of commerce, as the following 

 figures show: 



