September, igig 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 7 



View of room containing dehydrating tunnels. Points of interest are the "drylight construction," 



combined with the ;»ll-\\hite interior flnisii and absolute cleanliness. The cars containing the 



fresh food are rolled into these tunnels, where the material has the moisture extracted from it 



without i-emo\ins any <if its other constituent forces or qualities. 



extent cover.s a separate tielii. The out- 

 .standing features of successful dehy- 

 dration are that it permits putting up 

 the ma.ximum amount of wholesome 

 fresh food value in the minimum size 

 package; is a new source of food con- 

 servation ; a new market for the food 

 producer and a new asset in the indus- 

 trial welfare of the country. The more 

 forms in which fruit and vegetable 

 foods are made savable and available 

 the greater will be the consumption, 

 bringing with it added stimulation of 

 agriculture and prosperity. 



Like other forwartl strides in the fruit 



and considerable progress had been 

 made in the process, it remained for the 

 great war to demonstrate its wonderful 

 possibilities and to give it an impetus 

 that now means uncpialified success. 

 The small space re(|uired to transport 

 and store large (luantities of wholesome 

 fruit and vegetable food at a greatly re- 

 duced cost opened the e> es of the world 

 to this new factor in food conservation. 

 It is not the object of this article to 

 go into the comijarative merits of dried 

 or canned food. Both of these processes 

 have an important place in the fruit 

 industry and each of them to a large 



industry, assured success in artificial 

 dehydration had its birth on the Pacific 

 Coast. In fact, Oregon is the cradle in 

 which it has been nursed along, until 

 now it is spreading out its arms and 

 will no doubt soon be reaching into the 

 other sections of the Northwest. The 

 largest and best known establishments 

 of this kind are those of the Kings 

 Products Company, one of which is 

 located at The Dalles, Oregon, and the 

 other at Salem, Oregon. It is under- 

 stood that this company is also making 

 arrangements to locate plants in other 

 sections of this slate and also in Wash- 

 ington. 



The establishments that are being 

 built by this company are models in the 

 way of factory construction, being big 

 and airy and with sanitation as the 

 dominating feature. The products are 

 handled so as to minimize as much as 

 possible exposure to air or human hands 

 and the entire process and system for 

 turning out the finished product is on a 

 basis that is fast making American in- 

 dustrial institutions the finest of their 

 kind. 



The great importance of the dehydra- 

 tion process has just been recognized by 

 the government, which has made a large 

 appropriation to be used in conduct- 

 ing experimental work in this industry 

 on the Pacific Coast. Part of this sum 

 will be utilized in installing a large and 

 fully equipped laboratory at the plant 

 of the Kings Products Company at 

 Salem, Oregon, and a laboratory will 

 be located in California also. Both 

 of these establishments will be used to 

 carry on scientific investigations to pro- 

 mote the development of the industry. 



Packing the 1919 Northwest Apple and Pear Crops 



Written for Better Fruit by an Experienced Fruit Handler 



NOTWITHSTANDING the strong 

 demand for apples and pears this 

 year, buyers are announcing that 

 they will not accept fruit that is not 

 correctly packed and strictly up to 

 grade. Buyers are making this an- 

 nouncement owing to the fact that 

 last year a comparatively light crop, 

 coupled with an unexpected demand, 

 resulted in throwing on the market 

 large quantities of inferior fruit, badly 

 packed, which got by as the trade was so 

 great that almost any kind of an apple 

 or pear packed in almost any kind of 

 way could be sold. This, it is pointed 

 out, will not be allowed this year, and 

 a rigid adherence to standard grade and 

 pack will be insisted upon. 



Packing Rules Being Enforced. 



There are practically no changes in 

 the grade and pack of Northwest aiiples 

 this > ear. The Northwest standtu'd box, 

 lO'i; X 11 'L- X 18 inches inside measure- 

 ment, has now been adopted in all dis- 

 tricts, and there is a probability that it 

 will be made the national standard con- 

 tainer for box apples by an enactment 

 of (Congress. There has been a tendency 

 during the |)ast year to force growers to 

 be more careful in the matter of pack 

 and grade and in some states laws have 



l)eeii passed to this elTect. (California 

 now has a law which stipulates the 

 rules for packing and grading fruit in 

 that state and provides for fines for 

 those who fail to comply with the pro- 

 visions of the measure. The law re- 

 quires that each box of fruit must be 

 marked with a stamp provided by the 

 state, stating that it has been graded and 

 packed according to the ofiicial require- 

 ments. It is expected that the other 

 Pacific Northwest states will later adopt 

 such a law. 



Labor Saving Devices. 



In packing out the 191!) crop of apples 

 labor-saving devices will play a more 

 im))ortant part than in former years. 

 There are several reasons for this: 

 shortage of expert labor in the fruit 

 industry; the fact that a better grade 

 and pack can be put up; that crops can 

 be handled more ([uickly and economi- 

 cally, and that growers made a sudi- 

 cient profit last year to allow them to 

 invest in up-to-date orchard and ptick- 

 ing house equipment. New acreage com- 

 ing into bearing in the Northwest is 

 also naturally i)la>ing its part in stimu- 

 lating the sale of this apparatus. The 

 main reason, however, for the greater 

 adoption of modern e(|uipment by the 



progressive orchardist is its efiiciency 

 arid economy. The latest and best makes 

 of picking ladders and utensils, wiping 

 antl grading machines, packing tables, 

 box presses anil conveyors have demon- 

 strated so thoroughly to the grower that 

 greater profits follow their use that few 

 oi\hardists who have crops large 

 enough to establish a packing house 

 now attempt to market their crops 

 without having most of these appli- 

 ances. 



Undoubtedly the greatest boon that 

 has come to the box apple grower in the 

 last decade is the power grailer and 

 sizer, which has reached its greatest 

 degree of efiiciency in the Northwest. 

 There are now several types of these 

 graders being manufactured on the Pa- 

 cific Coast, all of which do ellicient 

 work. What the povv'er grader has done 

 in helping the orchardist to ])ack his 

 fruit better and more economically, the 

 conve>()r is now doing in many sections 

 to more cheaply handle it from packing 

 table to car. 



Grading Most Important. 



Cirading for (|uality is the most im- 

 portant feature of a|)ple packing, for 

 while ])erfection has been almost at- 

 tained by machines in sizing the fruit. 



