eo 
“When ready for exportation the fruit is pressed flat between two 
cylinders covered with rubber, and then packed into cases by a special 
machine called a packer. Many dealers still perform this operation in 
the primitive manner of foot pressure, which is simple, speedy, and 
equally as satisfactory. Bordeaux is the principal center of this par- 
ticular commerce, which is yearly increasing. Besides the large amount 
of prunes exported to European countries by way of rail, there are 
about one hundred vessels annually leaving this port loaded with this 
valuable and succulent product. The most important exportation of 
this production is to the United States. During the past eight years 
$4,553,000 worth of prunes, or an average of $569,125, have been invoiced 
through this consulate, as will be seen by the following: 
$219,736 68 
525,052 58 
588,356 82 
$4,553,884 14 
“In the beginning of the prune industry many devices were employed 
for their proper conservation. The first ovens were very primitive, and 
the work of preparing the fruit for market laborious. At present there 
are many different kinds of ovens in use, possessing more or less distinct 
features, but about the same in general principles. The most generally 
used are the Bournel and the Marletean ovens. The only ovens in use 
are of French patent and make.” 
PRODUCTION AND MARKETS. 
The principal markets for California prunes are Chicago and New 
York, by far the greater portion being shipped to Chicago. Some 
smaller shipments are also sent to Philadelphia and Pittsburg. From 
these central points the product finds its way to the retailers, and 
thence to the consumers of the country. Although but a compara- 
tively new aspirant for public favor, the California prune has forced 
its way in advance of the imported article, and brings from 2 to 24 
cents per pound more than the French prune sold in competition with 
it. The proportion of pit and skin to meat in the California fruit is 
much less than in that of the French article, while the proportion of 
saccharine matter is much greater. These features give our domestic 
fruit its great advantage over the imported article. This popularity 
should be no surprise, as the California French prune is a different 
article from the imported French prune. Our prunes, as every con- 
sumer knows, are more like dates, and when cooked are of a most 
delicious flavor. Besides this, dealers have found out that the Cali- 
ae prune keeps better and longer without sugaring than the imported 
goods. 
The prune crop of 1889 was variously estimated at from fifteen 
million to eighteen million pounds, and it was sold at fair prices, ranging 
from 5 to 9 cents per pound, the average in the market being 2 cents 
higher than the imported. The crop of 1890 was expected to fall short, 
owing to excessive rain upon the bloom, and the excessive moisture in the 
