CROPS AKD PRICES. 



15 



green and dried fruits and also Agents for the California Fruit 

 Union in that city, opened extensive and well-appointed stores 

 at No. 211-213 Franklin St., with N. R. Doe as manager of 

 same and were appointed to the agency of the California Fruit 

 Union for the handling and sale of California products by the 

 now popular auction system." 



Lemons. — The lemon trade has shown remarkable fluctua- 

 tions within the year. The imports from Sicily for the summer 

 months were very heavy, probably stimulated by the anticipated 

 Columbian Exposition trade. Prices ruled very low. Later on, 

 however, shipments were withheld and the market advanced to 

 very high prices. Garden and Forest makes the following com- 

 ment upon this latter feature of the trade : "Lemons have been 

 remarkably scarce in this [New York] city during the last two 

 months of 1893 ; the few cargoes which arrived in December 

 were quickly distributed here and in Western cities, and New 

 York dealers have at times been compelled to draw on Boston 

 for supplies. In November, when the Sicily fruit is due here, 

 there were no imports of lemons, against 120,000 boxes received 

 during that month in 1892. The lemon season was unusually 

 backward, and the very low prices obtained last year, together 

 with the alarm on account of cholera, discouraged shipments ; 

 importations have been further delayed by unfavorable voyages 

 of the Mediterranean fruit steamers. In January, 1894, a con- 

 signment of 17,000 boxes of Messina, Palermo and Catania 

 lemons was sold at auction at high prices. Well-known brands 

 brought from $4.25 to $5.00 a box, while in January, 1893, 

 'fancy' lemons sold at from $2.25 to $2.75, and those of fair 

 quality realized but $1.75 a box. The sale began with high- 

 grade Messina fruit, but so bare was the market that prices 

 advanced as the sale progressed, and toward the close, Catanias, 

 the lowest grade of lemons, sold for as much as the best Sicily 

 fruit. These high prices were forced by large orders from the 

 West, and in an hour and twenty minutes, lemons to the value 

 of $70,000 were sold." The American lemon crop is annually 

 growing in importance, but it does not yet exercise great influ-. 

 ence upon the trade. California lemons have not reached the 

 New York market this year except as samples. Of the Florida 

 crop of 1893, New York received a quantity variously estimated 

 from 25,000 to 50,000 boxes. 



Grapes and. Raisins. — The Grape crops of 1893 were 

 very heavy. The shipment of the season's raisins from Cali- 

 fornia up to January 1, 1894, amount to 64,000,000 pounds, 

 or over a third more than the output of the previous crop for 

 the same time. At the opening of 1894, it is estimated that 

 from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 pounds still remain to be shipped 

 from the Pacific coast. Prices have been low. 



