WINTER MEETING. 435 



easiest routes to bankruptcy if not handled with consummate skill. But I 

 do not believe it is an industry to be checked or lost, for the importance of 

 it is too great. It is to be classed among the great inventions of the age and 

 a few years more will find it thoroughly simplified, perfected and in general 

 use. 



H. W. Davis presented the following as questions of vital importance in 

 evaporating fruit commercially: 



1. Which is more profitable, to make " rung " or " punched " stock? 



2. Which is better, to bleach in the tower or cold bleacher? 



3. Is it necessary to use the salt bath? 



4. Does it pay to make a commercial product of the waste at 1;^ to l^c per 

 pound? 



5. Shall we sell our products direct to wholesalers or through commission 

 houses? 



6. Which is the cheaper and safer fuel, coal or wood? 



7. Is kiln dried fruit equal in quality to tower dried fruit, and what is the 

 difference in cost per pound? 



8. What number of pounds of green fruit constitute a legal bushel? 



9. Where can insurance be obtained? 



10. Where can we obtain accurate and reliable information concerning the 

 apple crop in various parts of the country so as to know whether to sell or hold 

 our stock? 



Mr. Coller: What about steam heat for evaporating? 



Mr. Mann: My experience has all been with the Alden process. The 

 object is to keep the fruit in moist atmosphere during evaporation. 



Mr. Davis : If large orchards are planted we need a place to j^ut the pro- 

 duct at a profit. Windstorms come and put the crop on the ground and it is 

 lost. The evar)orator solves the problem, and it has come to stay. 



Mr. Coller: Can evaporated fruit be kept over? 



Mr. Davis : I have six years' old stock. It has lost its whiteness, but its 

 quality is not materially injured, but the discoloration takes away the market 

 value. Carrying over even one season puts the best fruit into second class. 



Mr. Coller: How about quality of fruit evaporated? 



Mr. Davis : Fine appearing stock, regardless of quality, catches the mar- 

 ket. 



Mr. Mann : We sealed up stock in paper sacks and kept it years without any 

 deterioration, but this fruit had not been bleached. The bleaching makes all 

 stock look alike, hence I don't like the process. I want good fruit to begin 

 with to make an evaporated article that I will use myself. 



Several gentlemen spoke of the desirability of accurate crop reports to 

 aid the orchardist and evaporator to settle upon prices. Others scored Mr. 

 Davis sharply for not making more of quality in stock to evaporate. 



The next subject taken up was 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS— THEIR VALUE AND USES. 

 BY W. L. SNYDER, OF DETROIT. 



This is an important, though not the most pleasing of subjects, but I assure 

 you it is far more agreeably handled on paper than otherwise. Yet after all 

 it is a matter of habit, education and tasi e (or smell rather), for the connois- 



