lODEr., HUT. I Evaporation of Apples. 745 



Tlie fact that under ordinary conditions the rate of niovonient of the air 

 over fniit oannot be brought under the control of the ojierator necessi- 

 tates the use of higher temperatures in order to bring the time required 

 for drying withiu reasonable limits. 



Artificial Means of Increasing Circulation of Air. 



The operator of a tunnel or Carson-Snyder evaporator who finds that 

 the circulation of air through the fruit is sluggish may increase it to any 

 degree desired by installing suction fans in the ventilating shafts, or by 

 employing a ventilating fan to drive nir into the furnace-room, over the 

 furnace, and upward thro;igh the fiuit. In the case of a kiln, only the 

 second method could be used, since the air movement produced by a 

 suction fan would be mainly through the centre of the kiln, and there 

 would be margins along the walls in which drying would be very slow. 

 Fans may be connected up with the main power shaft, and operated con- 

 stantly, or brought into service only on such still, humid days as make 

 satisfactory drying without their help impossible. Since their use will 

 necessarily lower the temperature of the air, the operator must bear in 

 mind what has just been said in regard to the relation of temperature 

 to moisture-carrying capacity in determining the speed at which his 

 fans shall run. 



Determining When the Fruit is Properly Dried. 



Fruit should be removed from the kiln floor or drying trays when it 

 still contains slightly more moisture than the finished iproduet is to have. 

 The ability to judge accurately as to when the fruit has reached the 

 proper condition for removal can only be gained by experience, but some 

 general statements may be made. Fruit which is sufficiently dried for 

 removal should be so dry that it is impossible to press water out of the 

 freshly cut ends of the pieces, but should be sufficiently elastic not to 

 break when the piece is rolled into a cylinder. When a mass of slices 

 are pressed firmly into a ball in the hand, they should separate at once 

 when released. The surface should be soft and should adhere slightly 

 to the fingers, leaving the hands " sticky " after handling them. Occa- 

 sional slices will, of course, have more or less than this amount of mois- 

 ture, but the general condition of the fruit should be that just described. 



When the fruit has reached this condition, it should be removed to 

 the curing room, where it is spread upon the floor to a depth of a foot 

 or more. Here the moisture content of the whole mass graduallv be- 

 comes equalized, a process which should be accelerated by stirring it 

 thoroughly once a day. A slow loss of moisture content will go on for 

 some days or weeks, reducing the fruit as a whole to a weight 4-5 per 

 c.ent. less than it had on coming from tlic drier. 



Grading and Packing the Dried Fruit. 



The trade recognises four standard grades of evaporated apples, 

 which may be briefly defined. "Extra Fancy" is a name used to 

 designate the highest quality fruit, and consists of very white fruit in 

 complete rings of large size, with only a very small admixture — 5-8 per 

 cent, at most — of broken pieces. It must be free of bits of skin and 

 core, and must be perfectly clean. " Fancy " is also a clean white stock 

 without skin or core, but may consist of somewhat smaller rings with 

 a somewhat larger proi^ortiou of broken pieces. " Choice " is, on most 



