HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



IN THE PRUNE BELT. 



BY W. C. FITZSIMMONS. 



PRUNE culture in the United States dates from 

 1856, when M. Pierre Pellier, a nurseryman of San 

 Jose, California, returned from a visit to his old 

 home in France, bringing some prune cuttings from 

 Ville Neuve d'Agen. From that beginning the prune 

 industry of California, and indirectly throughout the 

 Pacific States, took its rise. The prune generally 

 grown is the same variety introduced by M. Pellier, 

 though other kinds have been planted on a consider- 

 able scale in various parts of the prune growing 

 region. From California the industry spread to 

 Oregon, Washington, Idaho and some other States 

 and Territories, though beyond the three States named 

 the acreage is comparatively small. 



ACREAGE. 



At this time California has over 50,000 acres devoted 

 to prunes, and the planting of new orchards goes 

 merrily on. The Santa Clara valley, wherein the 

 first prune trees were planted, as above noted, is 

 by far the largest producer of prunes in the United 

 States. Nearly forty million pounds of the Cured 

 fruit were shipped from that region last year, and 

 the crop this season is estimated at thirty million 

 pounds. Other districts in the State will bring the 

 entire output up to forty or fifty million pounds, 

 probably. Oregon claims a prune acreage of about 

 '25,000 acres, but as the orchards are generally young 

 the product this season is estimated at only 3,500,000 

 pounds. Washington is reported to have about 10,000 

 acres devoted to prunes, and Idaho 5,000 acres. The 

 yield of the Washington orchards for the present sea- 

 son will probably reach 1,500,000 pounds of cured 

 fruit. 



CURING. 



Most prunes grown in California are cured in the sun. 

 while those grown in the States farther north are large- 

 ly cured in evaporators. Each method has its advan- 

 tages and each has its strong advocates. The prune 

 is produced and prepared for market at less expense 

 than most other deciduous fruits, and hence is a 

 popular fruit to plant wherever suitable conditions 

 of soil and climate are found. 



In view of these facts it is not unlikely that the 

 prune will be over-planted soon, and that the profits 

 of prune culture will decline in a proportionate 

 degree. While the area suitable for the growth of 

 prunes is very large, there is not an unlimited market 

 for the product; hence with the continual expansion 

 of the prune growing area the time will soon come 

 when production will greatly outrun consumption, at 

 least at prices which will prove remunerative to the 

 grower. 



In order to fortify this statement by an array of 

 facts and figures, it may be mentioned that the 

 following tables show the production in California 

 (thus far the production of prunes elsewhere in the 

 United States has been inconsiderable) for a series 



of years; also the quantities imported during the 

 same period. 



YIELD OF CALIFORNIA PRUNES. 



Year. Pounds. 



1886 2,000,000 



1887 1,825,000 



1888 2,100,000 



1889 15,200,000 



1890 12,000,000 



1891 27,500,000 



1892 30,000,000 



1893 51 ,716,000 



1894 (estimated) 45,000,000 



IMPORTS OF FOREIGN PRUNES. 



Year. Pounds. Value. 



1885 57,631,^20 $2,147,505 



1886 64,995,545 2,026,595 



1887 92,032,625 2,999,648 



1888 70,626,027 2,197,150 



1889 46,154,825 1,423,304 



1890 58,093,410 1,789,176 



1891 9,336,859 470,360 



1892 23,177,617 951,444 



1893 16,428,388 756,247 



It will be seen from the above figures that the 

 average home production for eight years (1886 to 

 1893) was 17,792,000 pounds of prunes, and the aver- 

 age annual importations amounted to 48,719,679 

 pounds. The sum of these two quantities gives us 

 a nearly accurate guide to the total annual consump- 

 tion of cured prunes in the United States, which 

 amounts to about seventy million pounds. No doubt 

 the consumption is increasing, and doubtless, too, 

 more rapidly than the population. Making allowances, 

 however, for a large increase in both these directions 

 in the coming years, it is unreasonable to expect 

 a total annual absorption of more than one hundred 

 million to one hundred and twenty million pounds of 

 prunes during the next five or six years, at least. 

 As a matter of fact, however, not one half of the 

 acreage, even in California, has reached the full 

 bearing stage, and a much smaller proportion of the 

 total area planted in the other States named; hence 

 it seems a reasonable deduction that within five or 

 six years we shall be called upon to market a crop of 

 probably two hundred million pounds of prunes. 



In view also of the fact that France, Servia and 

 Bosnia already produce more prunes than can be 

 marketed profitably outside of the United States, it 

 would appear to follow that our main reliance for a 

 market must be in our own country. But can and 

 will the people of the United States consume three 

 times as many prunes as now and at such prices as 

 will leave a living margin to producers? These 

 are the questions before prune planters, and per- 

 haps one man's guess in this connection may be as 

 accurate as another's In any event, the past and 

 present facts of the prune industry are here pre- 

 sented, and if carefully studied will prove a valu- 

 able guide to planters and others interested in prune 

 culture or prune consumption. 



'97 



