HANDLING CURED FRUITS 453 



cloth. The fanning mill for cleaning grain may also be used for rapid 

 separation of dirt, leaves, etc., with proper arrangement of metal 

 screens. 



Sweating. All fruit, if stored in mass after drying, becomes 

 moist. This action should take place before packing. To facilitate it, 

 the fruit is put in piles on the floor of the fruit-house and turned occa- 

 sionally with a scoop shovel ; or, if allowed to sweat in boxes, the fruit 

 is occasionally poured from one box to another. The sweating equal- 

 izes the moisture throughout the mass. Some large producers have 

 sweat-rooms with tight walls, which preserve an even temperature. 

 No fruit should be packed before "going through the sweat." If thi? 

 is not done, discoloration and injury will result. 



Dipping Before Packing. All fruits except prunes can be packed 

 in good condition without dipping, provided the fruit is not over-dried. 

 Efforts should be made to take up the fruit when it is just sufficiently 

 cured to prevent subsequent fermentation. If taken from the trays in 

 the heat of the day and covered so that the fruit moth can not reach 

 it there is little danger of worms. The highest grades of fruit are made 

 in this way. If, however, the fruit has been over-dried or neglected, 

 it can be dipped in boiling water to kill eggs of vermin and to make the 

 fruit a little more pliable for the press. The dipping should be done 

 quickly, and the fruit allowed to drain and then lie in a dark room, 

 carefully covered, for twenty-four hours before packing. 



Packing. To open well, packages of dried fruit should be 

 "faced." The many fine arts of paper lining, etc., must be learned by 

 observation. Flatten some fair specimens of the fruit to be packed 

 (and reference is especially made to such fruits as apricots, peaches 

 and nectarines) by running them through a clothes wringer or similar 

 pair of rollers set to flatten but not crush the fruit. Do not face with 

 better fruit than the package is to contain. It is a fraud which will 

 not in the end be profitable. Lay the flattened fruit (cup side down) 

 neatly in the bottom of the box. Fill the box until it reaches the 

 amount the box is to contain, and then apply the press until the bottom 

 can be nailed on. Invert the box and put on the label or brand; the 

 bottom then becomes the top. 



Many different kinds of boxes are used. A very good size is made 

 of seasoned pine, six inches deep by nine inches wide by fifteen inches 

 long, inside measurements, and it will hold twenty-five pounds of fruit. 



METHODS WITH DIFFERENT FRUITS 



As already intimated, it will be impossible to enter minutely into 

 the operations of drying and packing on a commercial scale, or even 

 to notice all the small and ingenious arts by which the work is facil- 

 itated. Any one who contemplates production on a large scale should 

 personally visit leading regions and inform himself by inquiry and 

 observation. Such an education will save mistakes, which may cost 

 many times more than the expense of getting it. California producers 



