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The packers in Yugoslavia as well as in France, claim certain dis- 
tinct advantages for this method. In the first place it does not injure 
the skin, an important factor in Yugoslavia where the skin of the prune is 
very tender. Second, it preserves the natural aroma of the fruit, a point 
stressed frequently and third, the syrup collected on the outside of the 
dried prune is not washed off but is baked in, resulting in a black finish, 
a fa^t appreciated by the trade. There is "a well pronounced sentiment in 
Yugoslavia, that the long water shipment of bag prunes, piled high in the 
barges, destined for northwestern Europe, there to be "dipped", has been a 
contributing factor in the unsatisfactory quality of the Yugoslav prune. 
While there are many warehouses for storing and grading prunes, the 
Kingdom altogether has only about 36 packing plants or "Etuvages." Belgrade, 
the capitol, while still one of the most important prune market centers, is. 
no longer important in prune packing. Valjevo, in Serbia and Btfcko in Bos&ia 
have become the leading centers of packing arid general prune activity. Other 
important prune packing centers are Shaba ts , Cacek, Kragujevats, Uzitze, 
Pozega and Loznitza in Serbia and Doboj, Tuzla, Bosanski, Shamats and 
Grachanitsa in Bosnia. The Kingdom's packing facilities in recent years 
have not been used to full capacity, due partly to the smaller crops since 
1927 and partly to the sale and shipment of bag prunes to such packing 
^inters as Hamburg, Vienna, Budapest, Brateslavia, Passau and Regensburg. 
Some of the S3 plants are owned by exporters located in the packing centers 
who deal directly with the foreign importer. Most of them however, are 
owned by financially responsible firms or export banks located in Belgrade, 
Vienna or Budapest. Many of these banks have an export branch the stock of 
which is controlled by the parent bank. In this respect, the banks take 
a more direct part in the movement of the prune crop than is the case in 
America. 
Very often a "still" for the making of brandy is operated in con- 
nection with the packing plant. Occasionally an "etuvage" will have its 
own rrader plant nearby but as a rule prunes for packing are bought already 
graded as to size. The packing plants are usually three stoiy, relatively 
narrow, masonry structures. Except in plants where prunes are first pressed 
into steel cylinders, they are extremely simply in both construction and 
equipment. Some of the less modern plants are entirely lacking in machinery, 
even the pressing of the prunes into the boxes being done by men tranping 
the fruit down after first covering the prunes with sacking. The top or 
third floor may be given over to storage of shook and the making of the 
boxes. Pacing is done on the first or second f loo ■ 3 ..nd baking on the first 
floor. 
Pacing the prunes, or carefully arranging the top layer, is accomplish- 
ed by taking each individual prune and placing it in the bottom of the box 
which later becoiiE s the top of the finished pack. Prior to the war, this 
practice was universally followed on the Pacific Coast but has been discon- 
tinued due to additional cost and danger of spoilage. The practice is still 
followed in Yugoslavia, however, where labor cost is not so large an item, 
women exclusively doing this work. In one plant the rate paid for facing 
was 50 paras or 1 cent per box. Prior to the facing, the boxes are lined 
