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thousand tons more green fruit used in making our dried fruits than was 

 used in canning the amount which was canned in 1887, and the same 

 year our canners had enough canned fruits to supply home and eastern 

 markets, and enough to fill large orders in Europe; thus showing that the 

 sixteen thousand tons of fresh fruit canned about fills the demand of Cal- 

 ifornia canned fruits. There were consumed in the United States of dried 

 fruits about two hundred million pounds, of which California only furnished 

 twenty-six million pounds and foreign countries one hundred and seventy- 

 four million pounds — about in the proportion of one eighth of California 

 production to seven eighths of the foreign. These two hundred million 

 pounds of dried fruits include all dried fruits, raisins, prunes, etc. ; thus 

 showing that California must make seven times as much more dried fruits 

 as she now does before we think of having the market supplied, which calls 

 for one hundred and forty thousand tons of green fruit, outside of raisins. 



For one I do not see how we can expect to find markets for seven times 

 as much more canned fruits than we now put up; but on the part of dried 

 fruits we surely have an unlimited market. I will give in detail the dried 

 fruits made in California in 1887, which are as follows: 



Raisins - 16,000,000 pounds. 



Prunes 1,825,000 pounds. 



Peaches, sun-dried - 1,750,000 pounds. 



Plums, sun-dried . 400,000 pounds. 



Pears, sun-dried 40,000 pounds. 



Grapes, sun-dried 600,000 pounds. 



Apricots, sun-dried.- 200,000 pounds. 



Nectarines, sun-dried 100,000 pounds. 



Apricots, evaporated . 3,500,000 pounds. 



Peaches, evaporated, peeled 50,000 pounds. 



Peaches, evaporated, unpeeled... 750,000 pounds. 



Plums, evaporated 50,000 pounds. 



Nectarines, evaporated _ 50,000 pounds. 



Making a total of twenty-five million seven hundred and sixty-five thou- 

 sand pounds, which calls for one hundred and eight million eight hundred 

 and fifty-five thousand pounds, or fifty-four thousand four hundred and 

 twenty-seven tons of green fruit, to be consumed in making dried fruits and 

 raisins; or outside of raisins, four thousand eight hundred and eighty-two 

 tons of green fruits. 



As I said in the beginning, who or where are the customers for this fruit? 

 They are our friends and relatives of the Atlantic States. 



The question arises, " Why do they ask for our dried fruits rather than 

 our canned?" for they say that our canned fruits cannot be excelled nor 

 even compared with any other canned fruits throughout the world. Their 

 answer is, "We are not able as a people to eat your canned fruits, but we 

 are able to eat some of your dried fruits;" and to-day it stands us in hand, 

 as California fruit growers, to do something toward getting our dried and 

 canned fruits into the mouths of the eastern consumers, as the question has 

 solved itself to the matter of dollars and cents, as they say it is not the 

 quality of our fruits so much as it is the price. We hear more complaint 

 on the part of our dried fruits than the canned. Why should such be the 

 case? I know of no reason other than that too much carelessness on the 

 part of the average California fruit grower in preparing his dried fruit for 

 market. The cost of selling a pound of poor fruit is greater than that of 

 good, while the freight is the same, and at the same time losing our repu- 

 tation as growers and packers. Let us when drying our fruit do away 

 with the Grecian or Spanish system, as well as the so called "Chinee" 

 system of swindling our eastern customers with so much filth and dirt, 

 while with a trifling cost more we can supply all the markets with good, 



