208 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. T. 



soft to gather with the harvester, however, and if gathered in that way- 

 would be ripe and dark in color. 



, Drying Blackberries. — Dried blackberries are nearly always quoted 

 in market, yet, so far as I have been able to learn, none are grown for 

 that puqjose, the supply coming almost wholly from the South, where 

 the wild berries are gathered and are dried in the sun. They are 

 usually poor in quality and quottd at a price which would render it 

 very unprofitable to dry them if there were a market for fresh fruit. 

 In order to learn something of their adaptability for this purpose, eight 

 well-filled quart baskets just as we were selling them fresh, were taken 

 for the purpose. They were made to correspond in weight, so ihat 

 each quart, with the basket, weighed one and a half pounds. Deduct- 

 ing the weight of the baskets, left three pounds ten and one-half ounces 

 of fruit in each of the two lots of four quarts. Granulated sugar was 

 freely sprinkled over one lot. Four ounces of sugar was thus used, 

 one ounce to each quart, making the weight of this lot plus the sugar 

 five pounds fourteen and one-half ounces. Both lots were put in the 

 greenhouse to dry August third, on wire screens, and covered with mos- 

 quito netting to keep away the flies. After one or two days of sunshine, 

 there came one or two cloudy ones and the berries began to mold, so that 

 the netting had to be removed. Those treated with sugar molded less 

 than the others and stuck to the screens less in drying. August twelfth 

 both lots were taken up and weighed. They appeared to be as dry as 

 raspberries usually are when put into the curing-room, but quickly 

 began to mold again when put in a pile together. The four quarts 

 dried without sugar weighed at this date one pound ten and one-half 

 ounces. The four quarts dried * with sugar weighed one j^ound 

 fifteen and one-half ounces. From these weights, it seems that 

 not over twelve to fourteen pounds of dried fruit to the bushel 

 can be expected. The weight of sugar applied seems to be 

 retained, and possibly increases the weight slightly in addi- 

 tion, by retaining more of the juices of the fruit. Those treated 

 with sugar seemed to remain in a softer and better condition for 

 cooking. Judging from this attempt, the blackberry dries very 

 slowly, and under present conditions, at least, there seems to be little 

 promise that it can be profitably grown for evaporating purposes. 

 The quality of dried blackberries is low. They seem to be lacking in 

 sugar and pronounced qualities. Yet the addition of sugar in drying 

 and the perfection of methods in evaporating, may enable the grower 

 to utilize the surplus crop to advantage. But the chief hindrance to 

 such an industry at present is the cheap Southern product. 



