3i6 



The Canadian Horticiiltnrist. 



40 bushels per day of 10 hours, ac- 

 cording to the size of the apples and 

 the expertness of the operator. The 

 most economical speed is 25 bushels. 

 A higher speed throws the fruit and 

 makes considerable waste. The best 

 power, aside from steam, is a wide- 

 awake boy about 15 years old. The 

 price paid is usually i\ c. per bushel. 

 I have not yet found a perfect parer, 

 nor one that will stand through a 

 season wnthout constant repairing. 

 Most machines in use pare, core and 

 slice at one operation. Some ma- 

 chines pare and core only, the slicing 

 being done by a second hand. This 

 is more saving in fruit. Punched 

 fruit, or apples punched to remove 

 the core are not worth so much into 

 I or 2c., as a great deal of the core 

 is left in the apple. 



As soon as the apple is pared the 

 trimmer (usually a woman, as she will 

 handle the apple quicker and be 

 more particular to remove all the 

 skin left by the parer than a man 

 would be) cuts out any specks or 

 other imperfection and separates the 

 slices. Two women are needed to 

 each paring machine and do 25 bush- 

 els or more per day. The average 

 pay is 70c. per day. 



The bleacher is a tight box about 

 five feet high, three feet deep and 

 two wide, connected with the chim- 

 ney by a pipe. In the bottom is a 

 vessel in which sulphur or powdered 

 brimstone is burned. The apple is 

 placed on trays, fitted to this box, 

 and allowed to remain in the fumes 

 of the brimstone two to four minutes. 

 There is an ungrounded opposition 

 among some people to evaporated 

 fruit because of this process. The 

 term '-bleaching" is misleading. 

 The apple is merely exposed to the 

 fumes to prevent it from turning 

 dark. This gives the apple its white, 

 pleasing appearance by simply stop- 

 ing the process of rusting, as when 

 dried, fruit that is properly bleached 

 \\\\\ not show the least taint of brim- 

 tone. The main point in bleaching 



is to get the fresh fruit into the 

 bleacher as soon as possible after it 

 is pared. Some use salt water but 

 the fruit always tastes of the salt. 

 After bleaching, the apples retain 

 their color and can be kept hours 

 before drying. 



When removed from the bleacher 

 the fruit is spread upon trays made 

 of wire or cloth and placed in the 

 dryer. In some evaporators it is 

 necessary to lay each slice separately 

 upon the tra}-, which is quite a task; 

 in others the fruit may be put upon 

 the trays two or three layers deep, 

 the different internal arrangement of 

 dryers necessitating these different 

 modes of preparation. The evapor- 

 ator is a tower four to six feet square, 

 15 to 30 feet high, placed over a 

 furnace. In this tower are the ele- 

 vating machinery, dampers, etc., etc. 

 The fruit is placed directh' over the 

 furnace, which should show^ 225 to 

 250'^, and allowed to remain for five 

 or ten minutes. It is then raised 

 and another tray inserted and so on 

 continuously through the day and 

 night. With proper heat and a 

 favorable day the fruit should be 

 ready to come out in 2^ or three 

 hours. Great care and considerable 

 experience are necessary to know 

 just when the apple is ready to be 

 taken out. In my first experience, 

 and the first experience of nearly 

 every one, the fruit gets too dry and 

 consequently loses very much in 

 w^eight, besides lessening the nutri- 

 tive quality of the apple. It ought 

 to feel like a buckskin, not dr}' nor 

 moist, but soft and velvety. 



W^hen taken from the dryer the 

 apple is spread upon the floor in 

 a darkened room. It should remain 

 here for two or three days and should 

 be thoroughly mixed daily. This 

 allows all the heat to escape and the 

 fruit to become equally moist through- 

 out. It is what we call "sweating."' 

 Some of the slices w'ill come out of 

 the dryer quite crisp, others perhaps 

 quite moist and by mixing upon the 



