24 



fore, in leaving the fruit in the sulphur house a longer time is for the 

 purpose of allowing it to undergo an artificial sweat to reduce the skin, 

 which is done by the heat generated by the inclosed fumes. This is a 

 great advantage, for after the fruit has gone through this artificial sweat 

 and been placed in the sun, the skin is reduced to a minimum, and the 

 fruit turned somew r hat transparent. 



The sulphur must not be burned too near the fruit, as considerable 

 pure sulphur is liberated, and the bottoms of the trays being open, con- 

 siderable fruit would be damaged by coming in contact with the liberated 

 sulphur. The fruit on the lower tray, instead of bleaching out white, 

 will become of a pinkish color, and will not dry. Such fruit generally 

 remains in the sun puffed up, seemingly full of air. The reason for this 

 is that the fumes of the sulphur are heavy, and take with them con- 

 siderable pure sulphur, which is liberated and is deposited on the fruit. 



It is impossible to determine the exact amount of sulphur to be used. 

 After the room is well filled with smoke, which can be seen through the 

 trap-door, it is about time to withdraw the sulphur-pan. The smoke or 

 fumes are not allowed to escape, but the fruit is allowed to remain, with 

 closed doors, till it is taken out and placed in the sun, and should not 

 remain more than twenty minutes. 



I find it best to pick the fruit in the morning, for after it has been 

 placed in the smoke house and once been subjected to the sulphur fumes, 

 it may be placed in the sun, where it bleaches out beautifully, much 

 better than it would later in the afternoon, as the hot rays of the sun 

 are an advantage. The fruit picked and sulphured in the afternoon, by 

 the time it is placed in the sun, the sun will be so weak that the fruit 

 will not bleach out as well. Those placed out in the morning make a 

 much better fruit pliable, soft, and the skin is reduced considerably. 

 After the fruit has been exposed to the sun for an hour, it is turned 

 over by hand. This is done to allow the part resting on the trays to 

 also become bleached, as that part will retain its original color if not 

 turned over. 



After the fruit has been out two or three days it is time to handle it; 

 that is, the fruit can be rolled between the fingers, which is called, in 

 many instances, " finger pulling " or " rolling.' 7 This is done to prevent 

 the figs getting hard in drying. The operation can be performed every 

 day if the operator so chooses, but it is not necessary unless the figs have 

 dried considerably. After the figs have been out at least four days, have 

 dried away considerably, and have been turned over and rolled between 

 the fingers from time to time, as above stated, they can be removed from 

 the sun and placed in the shade. This prevents the fruit from getting 

 hard. 



After all signs of moisture on the surface have disappeared the fruit 

 is placed in wire baskets and dipped into boiling water, the hotter the 

 better. This dipping closes up the pores, kills all germs, and again 

 reduces the skin somewhat, and gives the fruit a beautiful color. It is 

 only necessary to dip the fruit into the water and raise it up immedi- 

 ately two or three times. If allowed to remain too long in the water it 

 will be rendered sour, and a great deal of the true fig flavor will thus be 

 lost, which must then be substituted by other means or the article will 

 be inferior. 



After the dipping the water is allowed to entirely drain off from the 

 figs, and they are then thrown into a pile, either on a clean wooden floor 



