soil, which caused much of the fruit to drop after having attained a fair 
size. At the end of the season it was apparent that the output was but 
very little, if at all, less than the preceding year. Prices for green 
fruit delivered at the driers ranged from $21 to $30 per ton. 
The amount of prunes now consumed in the United States is enormous, 
but the consumption is capable of great enlargement as the superior 
quality of the Pacific Coast product becomes better known. It will be 
years before the demand on this side of the Atlantic can be supplied, and 
when that shall have occurred there will be the market of Europe and the 
rest of the world to supply. The immense area devoted to prune culture 
this season (1891) testifies to the profound confidence felt in the future 
of the industry by the people of California, and that confidence certainly 
appears well founded. 
The following table gives the foreign import and California production 
for the six years from 1885 to 1891, inclusive: ; 
Foreign Imports, by Years, 
‘Ending June 30. cee 
YEAR. Years, ending 
Pounds. Value. ple aa 
W880 052 oii lad aces Ga easeeeauinoeecee soceceieee 57,631,820 | $2,147,505 00 |_-----.-..--.. 
Bod Gene ba ee asd Hen Ee 64,995,545 | 2,026,595 00 2,000,000 
CE cheap leacna! amen oe mare ~ae Aae ely cae ony ae ssadedy trades F 92,032,625 | 2,999,648 00 1,825,000 
OSB i= Uae io siotcense ees aty Sanne ene es 70,626,027 | 2,197,150 00 2,100,000 
NSS Oi rie ae eet aah eet om Ree ea eT 46,154,825 | 1,423,304 00 15,200,000 
NB OO neatances ine sicherenarnta Se chwies aicn atin ns cen nee rmy ine Lae item 58,093,410 | 1,789,176 00 12,200,000 
SON aloha cpercerea cps oo eh iencleiald ajareinteoin ajo etaoss 34,281,322 | 2,054,486 00 27,000,000 
Professor Allen, of San José, speaking of the rapid growth of the 
prune industry, says: \ 
“The first shipment of prunes was made in 1867, by J. Q. A. Ballou, 
one of the oldest orchardists in the valley, and was consigned to A. Lusk 
& Co., of San Francisco; there were about 500 pounds of dried French 
prunes in the consignment. This was the first shipment of prunes from 
the valley, and comprised the entire crop. During the fall of 1891 there 
have been shipped trom San José, alone, 19,207,165 pounds. There are 
at least 2,000,000 pounds more awaiting shipment. 
“Mr. Ballou raised his fruit from about fifteen trees, at which time 
there were not more than one hundred trees in bearing in the valley. 
Now there are not less than one million, one half of which are in bearing.” 
The importation of prunes into the United States for the year 1890, 
to December 31, was 61,905,782 pounds, valued at $2,819,420, an increase 
over the importations of 1889 of 18,188,429 pounds, and an increased 
value of $584,029. The product of the State of California for the same 
period is given for 1889 at 15,200,000, and 1890 at 12,200,000, or 28,517,- 
353 pounds less than were imported in 1889, and 48,705,782 pounds less 
than were imported in 1890. It wouldappear that while the United States 
imports from three to four times the quantity of prunes produced by 
California, there is still a large field for our domestic fruit, and that, 
with our continually increasing population, the danger of oversupply is 
still very remote, and prune growing in California may be relied upon 
as a profitable industry for years, if not for generations yet to come. 
a 
