FRUIT IN THE uKA\A(iA.\ VALLE). 



419 



30 girls are required to do the work. Eight 

 machines peel and core 50 bushels each in 

 a day and these can be dried in one kiln. 

 The girls trim off anything the peelers leave 

 and from the trimming table the apples are 

 sent in bushel boxes to the bleacher, where 

 they are subjected to strong brimstone 

 fumes. This treatment makes them soft 

 for slicing and prevents discoloration dur- 

 ing the process of drying. 



" Then the fruit goes to the slicing ma- 

 chine and is cut into rings. These slices 

 are spread four or five inches deep on the 

 kiln, and the evaporation is completed in 10 

 to 20 hours, depending on the depth. They 

 must be well turned two or three times. 

 When dried they are put in a- heap in the 

 curing room, where they are left for two 

 or three days, after which they are turned 

 and aired by being thrown from one corner 

 to another and allowed to ' sweat out.' 

 After seven to 10 days they are ready for 

 packing. For shipment, two sizes of boxes 



are used — one holding 25 pounds, and a 

 smaller and more common one weighing 15 

 pounds. After being packed, ordinary 

 storage suffices. Frost does no harm and 

 dampness makes them heavier. Too much 

 heat makes them lighter unless they are 

 packed when wet, in which case they sour 

 and become like vinegar. 



NOTHI^'G W'ASTED. 



" Xothing is allowed to go to waste. The 

 peelings and cores are dried by the same 

 process and packed tightly in barrels. This 

 product is shipped to Germany and France, 

 where it is made into jams, etc. Apples 

 which are imperfect and too small for peel- 

 ing are chopped and dried by similar pro- 

 cess and packed, 275 pounds in a barrel. 

 This barreled product is sent to France, and 

 when grapes are scarce it is used in making 

 some of the strong beverages. The cham- 

 pagne which reaches the Canadian con- 

 sumer at $3 a bottle is made by this by- 

 product from the evaporator." 



FRUIT DEVELOPMENT IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 



:*I. S. MIDDLETOX, VERNON, B. C. 



IN the early eighties a few experiments 

 were made to test the adaptability of 

 the then practically unsettled Okanagan 

 valley for the growing of fruit. These 

 were in the form of small fruit gardens, but 

 clearly showed to such men as Lord Aber- 

 deen at Vernon, G. W. Sterling at Kelowna, 

 and a few others, the great industry which 

 lay undeveloped in the fertile valleys lying 

 between the picturesque hills of the Okana- 

 gan. These men began setting out large 

 commercial orchards and the breaking down 

 of several of the larger ranches into small 

 fruit lots encouraged easterners and old 

 country people to settle and take up fruit 

 growing. From that time progressive 

 strides have been made along horticultural 

 lines. About 60,000 voung trees were 



added this year to the many thousands 

 which had been planted during recent years. 

 These trees consisted chiefly of apples, 

 pears, plums, cherries and peaches. Be- 

 sides, some set out a few of the smaller 

 fruits. The leading fruit, however, is the 

 apple, which, roughly speaking, occupies 

 about one-half of the fruit area, while the 

 other fruits are about equally divided. 



Up to three or four years ago the fruit 

 development of the valley was practically 

 in an experimental stage. A great number 

 of the varieties planted as the most suitable 

 for that section proved unsatisfactory. 

 They developed and bore heavily, but, as 

 varieties, were not suited to the market re- 

 quirements. The more recent planters, 

 having profited by the mistakes of the pio- 



