CROPS AKD PRICES. 



13 



dition it will bring more money than any orange grown. Will 

 it continue to do so ? Will it improve or will it degenerate ? 

 Will California come to the front, or will some other point pro- 

 duce finer fruit in ten or fifteen years from now?" 



California Fruits Abroad. — A year ago * a successful 

 experiment was made in exporting pears, plums, and peaches to 

 England. During the past year a similar experiment has been 

 made with oranges, and with similar success. Florida sent 

 about 10,000 boxes of oranges to London towards the close of 

 1892. California made her first attempt early in 1893, under 

 the general management of the Earl Fruit Company, which as- 

 sumed the risk of freight and charges on the consignment. 

 The growers of Azusa, Duarte and Covina, Los Angeles County, 

 contributed the fruit, which was the best quality of Washing- 

 ton Navels. The cost of putting a box of oranges in Liverpool 

 was estimated to be $2.50, as follows : Picking, boxes, pack- 

 ing and loading, 50 cents ; freight to New York and transfer to 

 steamer, $1 ; ocean freight, 50 cents ; dock charges and com- 

 missions, 50 cents. The fruit was worth $2 per box, so that 

 $4.50 must be realized for it in order to make the experiment 

 pay. One car, containing about 290 boxes, comprised the first 

 effort. The fruit left New York on the steamer Teutonic, 

 March 8, 1893, being consigned to L. Connolly & Co., Liverpool. 

 The fruit arrived in excellent condition, and 117 boxes were 

 forwarded to London. The London lot averaged 22 shillings 

 (about $5.30) per box, and that sold in Liverpool brought from 

 19 to 25 J shillings, or an average of 22 shillings 11 pence. One 

 box sold at 30 shillings, or over $7. At the same time, good 

 Jaffa oranges sold for 11 and 12 shillings. These very high 

 prices were due to the novelty of the fruit and the enterprise, 

 and were considered by dealers to be fictitious. A second con- 

 signment of 240 boxes reached England a few days later by 

 the steamer Germanic. The fruit was not in first-class condi- 

 tion, and lower prices were obtained. Forty boxes of River- 

 side Washington Navels from this lot sold for 13^- shillings, or 

 about $3.30 per box. Other shipments followed, and although 

 the sales were easy, the prices did not reach the figures first 

 obtained and they were not sufficiently high to greatly encour- 

 age the traffic at the present expense of transportation. 



Beginnings of the California Fruit Trade. — This sketch re- 

 calls the interesting history of the development of the Califor- 

 nia fruit trade in the eastern markets. The following items in 

 this record are made in Fruit Trade Journal by N. R. Doe, a 

 New York merchant who has been identified with this trade 



*See Annals for 1392, 42. 



