Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1895 — California Fruit. [ARTICLE]

California Fruit.

There can be no doubt in the minds of the Eastern fruit growers that their California brethren are hustlers, In 1885 the entire export of fresh fruits from that distant State amounted to 23,000,000 pounds; in -1890 it had risen to 75,000,000 pounds, while last year it reached the enormous quantity of 160,000,000 pounds. This is entirely exclusive of the 300,000,000 pounds of fruit canned and dried, and which raised the aggregate fruit exports of California to 430,000,000 pounds. Unlike its canned and dried fruits, which are thought to have reached the limit of consumption, it is felt that the demand for its fresh fruit has but begun and every effort is being strained to improve the methods of packing, handling, shipping and selling. An arrangement has been entered into to hold but one sale at a time in New York, thereby preventing competition and securing better prices, and on top of this comes the news of a new device by which each refrigerator car may be made to carry 23,328 pounds of cherries instead of 20,000 pounds hitherto allowed. But the saving is stili greater than appears on first sight, as the slatted trays are not merely lighter than the fruit boxes which they displace, but may be folded up, leaving space for the transportation of merchandise on the-"-return trip. These improvements will naturally lower the price of California fruits to the consumer and consequently extend their sale.