PROCEEDINGS OP THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 257 



it seemed that the bran absorbed moisture from the fruit and caked, 

 becoming so hard that it was difficult to get the berries out. Then we 

 had a lot of grapes, each bunch of which was wrapped in paper, as 

 deciduous fruits are wrapped. I would discard all of these materials 

 except the cork dust, though this year, we are going along with these 

 investigations and using other materials as well as cork dust. We 

 tried to find some substitute for the cork dust because it seems impos- 

 sible to get it in suficient quantity in California. We might have 'to 

 grow our own cork, and that would not be so ridiculous as it seemed at 

 first. We can use the outside of the bark and it would not be neces- 

 sary to have very old cork oaks. However, I am on the track of some 

 other materials. I won't mention them here because some of you may 

 smile, but I am on the track of some other things which I think might 

 be successful, and we hope to be able to tell you something about this 

 at another time. 



But the foundation of all is careful handling, just as we found in the 

 case of the orange — carefulness in the packing and in all the handling 

 of the fruit. I had occasion to get some grapes from a district, and 

 found by actual count that from twenty-five to forty per cent of the 

 berries had been injured in packing and the fruit would not keep. 



You heard something said yesterday about the superiority of the 

 California grape and the demand for the California grape if in as good 

 condition as the Almeria. I think we have a problem there just as we 

 have in the orange work. By studying the methods by which the 

 grapes could be more carefully handled, and perhaps using some differ- 

 ent method of packing these tender varieties, we could attain the end. 

 These are some of the lessons which have been learned from the work 

 thus far. It is wholly incomplete and I do not present it to you as 

 conclusive in any way— simply to give you an idea of some of the work 

 which is being done in our line of investigation. 



One thing I might mention, and that is this : that with careful handling, 

 the tenderest Muscat grapes and some of the varieties like that were 

 kept in excellent condition last year from four to six weeks, even in 

 open crates. I think that is very hopeful. It shows to what extent the 

 life of the fruit can be extended if we use care in putting it up. I do not 

 like to say much about the deciduous fruit work, the storage work, 

 because I do not think that is going to be as important as the other. 

 We have been able to keep peaches and plums from four to six weeks 

 in storage. That extends the market for those fruits just that much. 

 After that we can keep them perfect in appearance, but the taste and 

 flavor seem to be gone. And another thing, the ripe fruit keeps the 

 best; we can keep the ripe fruit longest and keep it in better condition. 



Now, this is rather a rambling talk and gives no idea of the amount 



17 — FGC 



