PART EIGHT: FRUIT PRESERVATION 



CHAPTER XLI 



FRUIT CANNING AND DRYING 



The fruit-canning enterprises of California expanded almost be- 

 yond anticipation after the outbreak of the world-war in 1914. The 

 opportunities for development and the relation of our almost unlim- 

 ited capacity for the production of fine fruits to the new concep- 

 tion of the dietetic value of preserved fruits and of the inadequacy 

 of production in other parts of the world to meet the demand which 

 this conception created, aroused wonderful interest in the capabili- 

 ties of California. Increased capital from outside sources was at- 

 tracted and the reorganization for administration and production 

 of our greatest proprietary concerns was accomplished. There was 

 also development of co-operative concerns, largely by fruit growers, 

 which are rising as a factor in production in several districts. So 

 great has been the development of the industry that the facts about 

 establishments, capital invested and labor employed, etc., gathered 

 by the U. S. Census Bureau in 1914, fail to be representative, and 

 measurements must be awaited until the facts are set forth in the 

 manufacturing statistics of the Census of 1920. It is, however, suf- 

 ficiently clear that California leads the United States in the fruit- 

 canning industry as for many years past and leads now by a wider 

 margin than ever before. 



Statistics of production of canned goods which have fortuntely 

 been carefully compiled by private enterprise* for a number of 

 years, do indicate both the rate of expansion and the relative 

 amounts of particular kinds of fruits which the industry requires 



California canned product fruit for the years indicated. 



1913 1919 1920 



Apples 80,250 134,245 9,041 



Apricots 898,005 4,395,204 2,312,020 



Blackberries 103,005 114,349 161,359 



Cherries 351,895 460,614 647,377 



Grapes 46,915 . 104,446 114,886 



Loganberries 21,370 11,708 14,267 



Pears 874,200 1,962,700 1,184,288 



Peaches, free 583,800 1,962,700 1,547,687 



Peaches, cling 1,630,255 5,096,240 5,205,511 



Plums 175,290 280,261 164,740 



Raspberries 9,090 233 



Strawberries 34,470 22,123 5,525 



Other fruits 2,290 42,584 15,562 



Totals 4,730,835 13,696,403 11,382,863 



The figures represent "cases" of 24 2^ Ib. tins or their equivalents. 

 *Notably by Mr. Howard C. Rowley, editor of the California Fruit News of San Fran- 



