82 7 HP. PACIFIC 
PACIFIC FRITIX OE'OWKR 
Published monthly by 
REVMERr <i' BROOK. 
Office: 141>^ East First St,, Los Angeles, Calif. 
Harry Brook, Editor. T. D. Reymert, Business Manager. 
Entered at Postoffiee at Los Angeles, Calif., as second class niatter- 
SUBSCKIPTIONS. 
?1.50 per year, in advance- Club of five, 16; Club of ten, ?10. Single 
copies 15 cents. Remit by po.stoffice or express miuiey order or postal 
note. 
ADVERTISEMENTS 
Rate-s fnrni.slied on application. No advertisements of swindles or 
humbugs inserted- Copy must be received by the 2-5ili. 
CONTRIBUTIONS. 
Contributions are solicited from practical fruit growers and other" 
interested in the fruit industry. Experiences of growers with new varie- 
ties or with insect pesl.s, etc., arc .specially welcome. Unless you 
wish you need not attempt to put the loatter in shape. Send the facts 
and we will attend to the re.st. Lengthy contributi«)US sliould be sent 
early in the month to In.surc a place in the following mimher. 
JULY, 1S87. 
We have received from J. E. Cutter, of Riverside, a package 
of “King” oranges. The trees from which these were gath- 
ered were imported from Cochin China some vears ago, under , 
seal of the government of that country and have been first fruited 
in California by Mr. Cutter. This orange is'fiattish in shape, 
has a rough moderately thick skin, salmon pink flesh, which 
parts very readily. The flavor is exquisite, equalling that of any ' 
orange we have ever tasted. Mr. Cutter says this orange does ' 
not appear to ripen until June, which will insure for it a good 
market after other oranges have been gatheredj 
I.MPoRTEi) Sultana raisins bring twenty-five per cent, more 
than the California product, owing to the fai:t that imported 
Sultanas are bleached before drying. Many uasuccessful efforts 
hav e been made to imitate the Europ^eai^m^jj^d of bl eaching. | 
In a forthcoming circular. Executive Officer ^\■hecle^, of the 
Viticultural Commission, will recommend the following process 
of bleaching: A solution of concentrated lye is used instead 
of sulphur fumes. The solution tried with success consists of 
about eight pounds of lye to forty gallons of water. The solu- 
tion is kept in large, shallow vats, and the fruit on trays is 
dipped into it, remaining from one to two minutes and then 
being put into the drier after a short period for draining. The 
cost of this process of bleaching is said to be less than $1.00 for 
a ton of grapes. 
Geo. W. Meade is undoubtedly the most enterprising fruit 
packer on the coast. He is a man who takes a genuine interest 
in his business, of which he has made a dose study. Mr. 
Meade’s reputation is by no means confined to this coast. On 
a recent visit East he was interviewed by a reporter of the Chi- 
cago Independent Grocer^ to whom he gave some interesting 
information regarding the Pacific Coast fruit business. In the I 
course of an editorial founded upon this information, the jour- I 
nal above mentioned makes the following pertinent remarks, 
which are worthy the attention of our fruit men: 
There is, however, one grievous mistake which Californians 
should rectify at once, and that is the practice of imitatin<^ the ' 
foreign goods in labeling. Whv should California prunes be ! 
called French prunes, or why should California raisin.s be called i 
London layers.' With the tremendous strides which these pro- 
ducts of the Pacific Coast are making, it will be harder a year 
hence to rectify this matter. It would ha%’e been much easier a 
year ago than it is to-day, and we cannot impress too strongly i 
upon our friends in California the necessity of takin^^ immedi- | 
ate action upon this matter. Let us have our California crooch ' 
distinctively American, for we know that the State can and has ' 
produced goods second to none at home or aliroad, and even at ' 
this late date any errors that have heretofore been made should 
promptly be rectified, in order that the task which will force ' 
itse f upon us may not come up at a time when it will certainly ' 
lead to great complication and untold annovance. The con- I 
FRUI7 GROWER. 
suiner is rapidly being educated regarding the superiority of 
California products and now is the time to take prompt action 
and start in tiie right direction. 
A Disp.\TCH from Sacramento announces that L. Buck, 
manager of the California Fruit Union, refuses to give the 
prices obtained at the recent auction sales of California fruits 
in the Ea-st, on the ground that to do so might prejudice dealers 
in California. What the fruit growers of Xorthern California 
are now asking is whether the Fruit Union is managed in the 
interest of dealers or of the fruit growers. It the hocus pocus 
of a previous year is going to be repeated Mr. Buck will find 
lliat the fruit growers will not remain patient so long as they 
did then. It looks as if Mr. Buck was endeavoring to run a 
plain business proposition after the .style of a secret society, of 
which he is High Muck-a-Muck, and that in doing so he was in 
danger of making a very numerous ass of himself. 
W'e are pleased to note tliat the Sacramento Bee has com- 
menced to agitate the taxing of large tracts at their full value» 
with the object of forcing their owners to divide them up. 
Nearly ten years ago the writer spent several days on the Morris 
Grant, belonging to J. B. Haggin, adjoining ijacramento city, 
for the purpose of writing a description of the same, its colon- 
ization being at that time contemplated. This immense tract of 
over 40,000 acres adjoins the city limits of the capital of the 
State. The Central Pacific runs for seven miles through the 
center of the tract, and for the whole distance not a house was 
visible, the land being used as a sheep pasture. We believe it 
exists in the same condition to-day, and yet our northern breth- 
ren wonder that the boom seems to give them a wide bertli. It 
would scarcely be supposed that anyone — except the owners — 
would object to the proposition that persons who keep large 
tracts of land unimproved should pay taxes at the same rate as 
small fanners who work and produce something, and yet, strange 
say,' some ot our horfheTrr"SWfl1ffi,?^?t!IRe exceptions to the 
Bee's propo.sition and refer to it as if it concealed some danger- 
ous communistic theory. 
THE LONDON FRUIT MARKET. 
W HEN the United .States fruit market is overdone with 
California products, as some of our friends are always 
prognosticating it will be, we may commence to turn our atten- 
tion to supplying the English market with our choice fruits. 
Our excellent London exchange, the Ilorticulhiral Times, in its 
issue of April .23d, give.s the following quotations as the ruling 
wholesale prices of the fruits named. We have changed the 
prices to their equivalent in dollars and 'cents: Strawberries, 
$1.25 to $3.cw per pound; hot-house grapes 50c to $2.cx) per 
pound; Alicante grapes, 42c to $1.25 per pound. English hot- 
house grapes are of very fine quality, large, thin-skinned and 
delicious, resembling our black Hamburgs. The .\licante grapes 
come packed in saweiust, from Spain, and mav be found for 
sale in the London grocery stores ail the vear round. Thev 
are of the White Malaga variety, large and sweet, and mav at 
some sea-sons be puichased at retail as low as 124c a pound. 
Immense quantities of grapes are grown for the London market 
in the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey) under glass, acres 
being covered in that way. The London market would alone 
con.sume all California can offer in the way of fine fresh fruit, 
and cry for more. Price is no object when anything choice 
can be offered, 'fhe editor of the P.vcikic Frlit Grower has 
frequently .seen large Louise Bonne de Jersey pears, weighing 
perhaps 2^ pounds each, displayed in the window of a leading 
London fruiterer, ut the modest price of £12 (-Ndo) per dozen. 
The usual retail price for English hot-house pineapples, of 
which large quantities are grown for the market, is $5 apiece, 
and of English hot-house peaches 60 cents apiece. 
