CALIFORNIA AND WESTERING SUN 307 



the base. Just now they are selling at the packing 

 houses for $100 per ton; 703 would sell for $110 

 and 6os for $120 per ton; while 905 would be 

 worth $90, loos $80 per ton and lois $79 per ton. 

 That is, the price rises or falls $i per ton for each 

 point. At the packing houses they are washed, 

 softened, packed and shipped East in carload lots. 

 The jobber, the railroad, the wholesaler and the 

 retailer take their toll of the price and the con- 

 sumer ultimately pays three times as much as the 

 producer receives. The only way for the consumer 

 to reduce this price is to come to the Santa Clara 

 Valley and eat prunes off the trees for they retail 

 here in California at a price only slightly lower 

 than in Chicago. Prunes from other districts 

 bring a half a cent less per pound as a rule. The 

 yield per acre of dried prunes varies widely but 

 ignoring the extremes, it may be put down at one 

 to one and three-quarters tons per acre for which 

 the ranchers are now receiving five cents per 

 pound. A good bearing orchard with buildings 

 and equipment has recently sold for $600 per acre. 

 The two great farming valleys of the State 

 there are hundreds of smaller ones are the 

 Sacramento and the San Joaquin (pronounced San 

 Wah-keen). The head waters of the Sacramento 



