Fruit Eoaporation — The Handmaid of Horticulture. 193 



The perishable and transient character of fruits has naturally led to the 

 study of the conditions which operate in producing their decay and a searcli 

 after methods for their preservation. Heating animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances, and excluding them from the air, or canning, as it is called, was first 

 practiced by the French chemist Appert, in France, in 1809, and various 

 other plans for preserving fruit by drying in ovens and kilns and furnaces 

 have been practiced for many years, but true evaporation of fruits and veget- 

 ables, and as we now understand it, wns first practiced in the United States, 

 and has been developed within a very few years from the simple experiment 

 with a few bushels to an industry of immense proportion in all the fruit 

 groAving States, with large capital invested in machinery and buildings, util- 

 izing the fruits formerly wasted, and encouraging the grower with increased 

 profit to an increased production by rendering the crops of the orchardist 

 and gardener as safe from the hazard of deterioration and decay as cotton 

 and grain, or hemp and wool. 



The manufactured orchard products are worth more pound for pound 

 than any other farm staple except cotton and wool ; each pound of evaporated 

 fruit representing upon an average eight pounds in the green or fresh state, 

 and a single factory of to-day can, during the working season, more than 

 supply the total amount which was exported ten years ago. 



The importance and economy of any process which will quickly and safely 

 preserve the products of our orchards and gardens can hardly be calculated, 

 as the necessity for disposing of all fruits and vegetables as soon as ripe 

 greatly diminishes the profits of the grower by forcing all engaged in tlie 

 s.ime business to sell at the same time. 



Now, by what means and in what manner are the important processes 

 and results which I have indicated to be accomplished ? 



How does evaporated fruit differ in quality and value from sun-dried ? 



These questions strike to the bottom of the whole operation, and involve 

 not onh' all the philosophy and chemistry of the j)rocess, but the dollars and 

 cents, which interest us perhaps more than the science of the business, and 

 may perhaps be answered best by considering briefly the composition of fruit 

 in its fresh state. All fruits have an inherent aptitude or liability to change 

 and decay, arising from the fact that they contain elements which are very 

 changeable and susceptible to decomposition, among which are some that 

 are the most valuable and nutritious of the substances designed for food. 



About 85 per cent, of most fruits is water, without which none of the 

 chemical changes which occur in the process of deca\^ can take place, and 

 hence the first step is to get rid of it or evaporate it. This is accomplished 

 by heat, and the manner in which it is applied will determine in a great 

 measure the quality and value of the product. 



In the process of sun-drying the fresh cut surface of the fruit begins to 

 grow dark immediately, or to rust by the action of the surrounding air, and 

 as the water slowly evaporates the process of oxidation continues and goes 

 deeper and deeper, until the whole celkilar tissue is involved, and has become 



