434 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



be set in the vent hole. The width and depth of the sulphuring box 

 should be adapted to the size of the trays in use in the drying field. 

 For height, eight feet is as great as can be worked conveniently. 



Burn the sulphur outside the box in a charcoal stove, such as is 

 used for heating flat-irons, covering the top of the stove with a sheet - 

 iron hood tapering to about four inches in diameter, where a pipe of four 

 feet in length can be slipped on and off This pipe should lead into the 

 bottom of the sulphur box at the center, where the fumes will be deliv- 

 ered at the proper temperature to save scorching the lower trays of 

 fruit. The hood should have a door to take the sulphur pan in and out. 

 To insure a good draft from the stove through the sulphur box, the stove 

 should be set below the level of the box, and if the pipe trends upward 

 the draft will be increased proportionally. 



For sulphuring, the fruit contained in a box 8 feet high by 3^ feet 

 square, two heaping tablespoonsful of powdered sulphur sprinkled upon 

 a live coal and burned on a pan set in the stove, with lower draft open 

 and hood door closed, is sufficient. Good results have been obtained 

 from burning a mixture of two-thirds powdered sulphur, and one-third 

 powdered charcoal. From twenty to thirty minutes is as long as 

 fruit should remain exposed to the sulphur fumes to avoid deposit of me- 

 tallic sulphur, and yet produce a bleaching effect. Practice will train the 

 eye to this, keeping in mind that the greener the fruit, the longer the 

 exposure that is necessary. 



Where large drying operations are in progress, a row of three sul- 

 phuring boxes can be served from one stove, operating them successively 

 and having pipes made with sheet-iron caps to cutoff the communication 

 with all but the one box which is being sulphured. Caps are better than 

 dampers, as they entirely cut off the connections, although involving the 

 slight trouble of unjointing the pipe to put the caps on. 



Sulphuring preserves for a long time the bright, rich color of apricots 

 and peaches, and the whiteness of apples and pears, and when practiced 

 as above described not only imparts no bad flavor to the fruit, but ac- 

 tually enhances it by preventing fermentation; on the other hand, over- 

 sulphured fruit, however beautiful, retains the sulphur taste to an of- 

 fensive degree, proportioned to the extent of the over-sulphuring. — Pop- 

 ular Gardening. 



