454 



FOREIGN OFFICE REPORTS. 



[March 1896. 



Competition is not felt by the factories, as tbe demand is equal 

 to the supply, and both grow continually. 



The factories turn out fruits, bottled and tinned, in syrup 

 and crystallised ; jams, jellies, and puree, which is a sort of 

 stewed fruit. The kinds used are apricots, peaches, pears,, 

 apples, quinces, figs, plums, cherries, sweet and water melons, 

 walnuts, tomatoes, oranges, and lemons ; the last two being 

 the only imported fruit, all the rest being grown in the Crimea. 

 The quantities bought up in 1894 by the three principal factories 

 alone amounted to 1,600 tons, valued at 14,100Z. 



Each year about 10,000 tons of fresh fruit, valued at 140,000^., 

 are sent to the north of Russia for eating. 



From the above figures it may be see a that the cultivation of 

 fruit has now attained very large proportions in the Crimea, and 

 particularly noticeable is the quantity of tomatoes taken up by 

 the factories. Until these were started, the tomato was very 

 little grown, as it would not stand transport, and the local 

 demand was small, but now it is largely cultivated as a most 

 profitable crop. The products of the factories, especially the 

 crystallised fruits, compare very favourably with those prepared 

 in France. 



The fruit harvest of 1895 was a total failure, and sufiicient 

 fruit could not be obtained in the Crimea, so that large quantities 

 have been imported from Bessarabia. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 1656, Price l^d.] 



German Experiment in Fruit Drying. 



In a supplementary report on the trade of the Consular 

 District of Stettin, Mr. Powell, H.M. Consul at that port, 

 mentions a novel experiment which has been made in the 

 drying of fruit by the use of " mull," which is the dust 

 obtained from dry "moss litter" whilst passing through the 

 machine for tearing up the moss for litter. The manager of 

 a Government peat moor, near Stettin, had some apples 

 and pears packed in this mull or dust, enclosing the whole 

 in a wooden case, and pressing the mull well down round 

 each apple and pear, taking care that the fruits did not touch 

 each other. The case was left unopened for about three raonths, 

 when it was found that they were perfectly dried and as sound 

 ?s those prepared for commerce. Some of them were placed in 

 warm water, when they began to take up the water and swell 

 to their former proportions. It appears, therefore, that if — on 

 further experiment being made — the fruit is found to be properly 

 dried and fit for commercial purposes, there is a possible future 

 in the process. 



Mull is exceedingly cheap, selling in Germany at about Is.Sd. 

 per cwt. As it is very light, 1 cwt. would dry a large quantity 



