INT-10DU0TI0N. 19 



preparation is somethiag which must appeal to all who 

 possess delicate sensibilities or an appreciation of the beau- 

 tiful. 



It is impossible to obtain accariite data concerning the 

 increase in the use of fruit, but it is certain to be greatly 

 in excess of the popular estimate. The gentleman to 

 whom was consigned, in 1871, the first car-load of Cali- 

 fornia grapes, (or fruits of any kind), confidently asserts 

 that there has beeo sold in the city of New York during 

 'he year 1889, three times as much fruit as during the year 

 1886. During the season from five to twenty-fire car-loads 

 of fruit per week, shipped from or near the Pacific Coast, 

 reached New York in 1889, and most of it was sold at auc- 

 tion, a late and favorite method of disposing of this per- 

 ishable commodity. On each car-load the freight alone 

 ftmounts from $450, to as high as $600, or 1700. 



This estimate is for green fruit. Dried prunes, apricots, 

 peaches and raisins annually increase at an enormous 

 ratio as growers learn how to cure and pack in such a 

 manner as to compete with foreign horticulturisls. Hence 

 the business of handling, as well as growing fruits, is as- 

 suming vast proportions. All these facts indicate an 

 amelioration of a heavy diet to one better fitted to the 

 progress of the centuiy. 



It has been anticipated that the large supply of western 

 fruit might discourage the growers of the eastern portion 

 of the Union, but that hardly seems imminent. While 

 California fruit is large, smooth and attractive in appear- 

 ance, to many tastes it lacks that indescribable flavor 

 which is the birthright of its cousin grown on the Atlan- 

 tic slope. If one excels in size the other excels in intrin- 

 sic richness and the world can spare neither. Besides, 



