Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



May 



By-Products Investigations — Need of Evaporators 



By Professor C. C. Vincent, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 



ACCORDING In reliable data, com- It is therefore up to every large fruit the main building, where all business is 



piled by the Stale Horticultural grower, co-operative orchard company transacted, such as receiving and weigh- 



Inspection Department, the fruit or small farmer in every community to ing the fruit, preparing for drying, etc. 



acreage in Idaho is approximately as prevent the waste that annually occurs Conveniently located to this building 



follows: \pples. 110,1100 acres; prunes, through windfall, cull and unmarket- and facing the dry grounds are the sul- 



12,0110 acres; peaches, 5,000 acres; mixed able fruits and vegetables. This can be phur houses. These houses, which are 



fruits 10 000 acres. In 1915 there were done by the construction of small evap- air-tight, are made of wood, tongue and 



shipped out of the state 1,125 cars of orators or canning plants. By so doing grooved, and the joints are filled with 



apples, 1,115 cars of fresh prunes, 175 we all become important factors in this, while zinc. Houses of this kind are 



cars of peaches and 20 cars of pears. our national crisis. necessary, because most of the fruits 



With this large acreage coming into That these small plants will add ma- are treated to the fumes of burning 

 bearing, it shows the necessity of evap- terially to the net profits of the farm, sulphur before exposing to the sun. 

 orating 'plants, or a large central plant and that they are a success in the East, Tracks consisting of light rails run 

 in'each locality to take care of the fruits is pointed out by Mr. Seeley of New into the sulphur houses, so that the 

 and vegetables that cannot be marketed York. He says that the small unit size trucks containing the trays of fruit can 

 or utilized as they ripen. That the dried makes the finest stock, and that be pushed in and out. To facilitate the 

 people of Idaho have not been utilizing there are hundreds of them in Wayne handling and reduce the cost to a mini- 

 their food supply is shown in Mr. Samp- County, New York, while in the vicinity mum, tracks run the full length of the 

 son's report to the Byproducts Congress, of Sodus one can see a dozen in about drying grounds. Wooden trays three 

 when he stated that Idaho in 1913 any direction he may look, and in these feet by six feet are used. When the 

 shipped out 175 tons of dried apples, plants the best grades of evaporated business is conducted on a commercial 

 50 tons of prunes and 75 tons of other stock are made. scale, much of the equipment as de- 

 dried fruits while the same year the Believing that there was a future for scribed above is needed. On the other 

 imports amounted to 185 tons "of dried the small evaporator in the State of hand, if a grower wishes to go into the 

 apples 75 tons of dried prunes, 150 tons Idaho, as well as opportunities for business on a small scale, very little 

 of dried peaches and 100 tons of other sun drying, and realizing that possibly equipment, aside from trays, is needed, 

 dried fruits. Similar conditions have through this medium commercial lines In Idaho there are a great many fruits 

 also existed throughout the other states of work would be further developed, and vegetables that can be utilized by 

 in the Pacific Northwest, as shown in the horticultural department of the sun-drying. It is very evident, as dem- 

 his report University of Idaho has been gathering onstrated by the experiments conducted 



Since the entrance of the United data on the following problems: at the University of Idaho, that such 

 States into the world war the prob- (D The sun drying of fruits and veg- fruits and vegetables as apricots, dur- 

 ability of a food shortage the world etables. ries, peaches, raspberries, loganberries, 

 over, labor shortage, and car shortage, (2) Relative merits of different types dewberries, peas, beets, turnips, beans, 

 many farmers of the'state have seen the of evaporators, such as cook stove, hot carrots and corn can be dried success- 

 necessity of utilizing as many of their air and steam. fully. In the table following are shown 

 products through the evaporator as pos- (3) Time required to evaporate dif- a number of different kinds of fruits 

 sible During this past year there have ferent products, temperature required, and vegetables that have been sun-dried, 

 been erected four large evaporating number of pounds of fresh fruits and and the length of time required to dry. 

 plants, two at Meridian, Idaho; one at vegetables to make one pound of dry, weight M'eight Time 

 Weiser Idaho and one at Payette, and moisture content of dried products. products Fresh Dry to Dry 

 Idaho.' Mr. Guy Graham, state horti- Sun-Drying. g£? s ;;;;;;;;;;;;; inS 11 "hours 



cultural fruit inspector, estimates that j n v j ew f the f ac t that California Turnips loo 8 7 hours 



there will be approximately 350 car- growe rs have been so successful with ^^ s ts \° ° 15 l? hour! 



loads of apples evaporated in these sun - c lricd fruits, it was thought that in corn 100 28 30 days 



plants this fall. There are at the port ions of Idaho fruits and vegetables Currants too 28 4 hours 



present time the following byproducts cou i d also be sun-dried successfully. A pfecSa.. ! ! ! ! ! ! 100 20 8 days 



plants operating in Idaho: few remarks, therefore, concerning the Sweet cherries too 25 9 days 



Byproducts Plants. methods followed in sun-drying fruits A P ricots 10 ° 46 hours 



inland Empire Canning Co., vinegar, canned in California may be of value. "While a The length of time it takes to sun-dry 



products, Cceur d'Aiene. large number of growers dry their own fruits and vegetables depends largely 



Freepons & Son, cider, Kellogg fruit the majority sell their products upon climatic" conditions, size of the 



Leo Bros. Vinegar Co., vinegar, Moscow. ■■ i_ 1 • u ,„; "H"" , ., , ,., T i «x. »i_ 



Juliaetta Cannery, canned products, Juiiaetta. to second parties whose exclusive busi- ple ces and the locality. If the weather 



Oregon Packing Co., canned products, Lewis- ness j s drying. The main reason why j s unsettled it will take much longer to 



""idaho Vinegar & Pickle Co., vinegar and fruit can be so successfully sun-dried d ry the products. The fruits and vege- 



pickies, Payette. in California is due to the tact that in tables indicated in the foregoing table 



penney& Co., dried apples, Payette m districts of the state there is no -were dried under the most favorable 



Idaho Products Co., dried apples and prunes, • , ,, . , ._ „ ,... 



p aye tte. dew and very seldom any rain during conditions. 



Weiser Food Products Co., dried apples, the Summer, SO that it is safe to leave 



Weiser. the fruit out continuously until dried Cook Stove Evaporator. 



Idaho Canning Co., canned products, Payette. the HUH out continuously until UI1LU. forl1 :,„ tW ivishp* tn rlrv 



Winn Bros., dried apples, Fruitiand. In case of rain, the trays are piled one For the family that wishes to dry 



New Plymouth Evaporator, prunes, New Ply- upon the other. only enough fruits and vegetables for 



m °s U ou h th Idaho Fruit Co., dried apples and Most of the large drying grounds, con- their winter's supply the small cook 



prunes, Meridian. sisting of several acres in extent, are stove evaporator is recommended. Sun- 



idaho Products Co., dried apples and prunes, worked on a co-operative basis, which drying in the humid sections of the 



M 'MiQdieion Fruit Products Co., cider, Middle- insures the best available prices to the state, where there is more or less rain 



ton. members for their fresh fruits. It is during the summer, should not be at- 



John Steele, dried prunes and apples, Parma. uncommon sisht to see twenty to tempted. As it is our duty at the pres- 



Overland Beverage Co., sweet cider, Nampa. " u uiitunmiuii aigm iu occ in^uij i^ r ______« <-„„j 



Twin Falls vinegar & Cider Co., vinegar, twenty-five acres covered with one kind ent time to conserve the present tood 



Twin Falls. of f ru it spread on trays. Probably the supply, every family in the Northwest 



A glance at the map of Idaho will largest drying ground in the world is should own one of these small cook- 

 show that these plants are not sufficient located in the Santa Clara Valley. The stove evaporators. The products dried 

 to prevent the enormous waste that is arrangement of the drying grounds in in the sun, on the stove or in the larger 

 bound to occur as our fruit trees come practically all districts of California are evaporators require no sugar no special 

 into bearing and our farms become similar. The equipment necessary to containers, and will keep indefinitely, 

 more productive. operate a plant of this kind consists of Continued on page 19 



