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 The perfect Prune > History of the Dried Plum > Enter the Ente plum
The moist, sunny climate and soil type of the Lot-et-Garonne were ideally suited to the Ente plum, and by the early 16th century, plums orchards were blossoming throughout the region. Later, after the construction of the Canal du Midi linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic ports, Agen, now a shipping port itself, gave its name to the dried fruit of the Ente plum - the Agen prune.
Today, the biggest world producer of prunes is California. And Californian plum trees were introduced to North America from Agen in 1856 by Frenchman Louis Pellier.
“There’s gold in them there fruit!”
Pellier was a French nurseryman who came to California in 1848 in search of gold. After his unsuccessful mining venture, he purchased land in the fertile Santa Clara Valley and went back into the nursery business. At the height of the gold rush, fresh fruits and vegetables were at a tremendous premium, bringing fabulous prices. Apples and pears sold for a dollar a piece. He is quoted as saying, “There is more gold in apples and pears than in the mines.”
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