48 



DRYING HOUSE. 



The drying house should be a building prepared for 

 the purpose, light and airy, and with means to close it 

 tightly in case of cold or storm. We have stated that the 

 rind of the orange, at the usual time of gathering, was 

 hard and contained much water; and it is for the purpose 

 of getting rid of the water in the rind that a drying house 

 is necessary. Hence, tne fruit should be gathered in a 

 clear, dry day, and placed in such a position as to hasten 

 the evaporation of water from the rind, which when thor- 

 oughly accomplished, renders the fruit smooth and elastic, 

 toughens the skin and prepares it for a long journey. 



The drying house should be constructed with shelves 

 or stalls, about three feet wide, running along the sides of 

 the building, the first shelf two feet from the floor, and 

 then one foot above that another, and so on to the ceiling 

 above, if necessary. The bottom or shelf should be com- 

 posed of slats one and a half inches wide, and placed one 

 and a half inches apart, with the edges or corners beveled off 

 so as not to mar or injure the fruit. Now (rim off the stems 

 vsmooth and close to the fruit with the shears, and place the 

 oranges on the slats only one tier deep. Here they are left 

 to dry from two to six days, or longer if desired ; and when 

 sufficiently dried, which can be known by a little experi- 

 ence, they are ready to pack for shipping. 



The practice formerly in vogue, and which is still con- 

 tinued to some extent here by some shippers, was to gather 

 the fruit and pile it into heaps of several bushels, and 

 eighteen or twenty inches high, covered with blankets, and 

 leave the fruit in the heaps till it underwent a "sweat" of a 

 few days, and then uncover, dry and pack. This sweating 

 process would seem to us the very worst treatment that the 



