Fruit Farming for Profit in California. 63 



over ; tlien take them out and lay them on a 

 tray, and in a week or ten days, according to the 

 heat of the sun, your prunes will be dried enough 

 to put them loose in any kind of boxes holding 

 fifty to seventy-five pounds. The trays can be made 

 very cheaply (about ten cents each) with four 

 sawed redwood shakes three feet long, nailed on a 

 very primitive frame by anybody who ever used a saw 

 and hammer. 



Now when your prunes are all dried and you want to 

 give them the finishing gloss for the market, do as fol- 

 lows : Fill your kettle again with water, but this time 

 no lye is wanted, and when the water is boiling steep 

 your prunes in it in your wire basket for about a minute 

 till every prune is quite hot, then expose them to the 

 sun for that day, and the next morning you can pack 

 them in boxes or sacks as you prefer. This last steep- 

 ing will make your prunes very clear and glossy, and 

 will kill every insect and eftectually destroy their 

 eggs. 



Profit 



The fifth year you will have lOOO trees bearing at least 60 

 pounds each, or 30 tons, equal to 10 tons dried, worth 

 10 cents per pound, or S200 per ton . . . . ,2000 



If yon deduct 10 per cent, for labour, you will hare a 

 balance of S1800 net, paying for the whole of the in- 

 vestment and S300 profit left. 



_TiiAJMxth year you will have 60 tons of green fruit, or 20 tons 



of dried prunes, worth ....... 4000 



