CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Grading. It is of great advantage in drying to have all the fruit 

 on a tray of approximately the same size, and grading before cut- 

 ting is advisable. Machines are made which accomplish this very 

 cheaply and quickly. 



Cutting-Sheds. Shelter of some kind is always provided for the 

 fruit-cutters. Sometimes it is only a temporary bower made of 

 poles and beams upon which tree branches are spread, as a thatch, 

 sometimes open-side sheds with boarded roof; and sometimes a 

 finished fruit-house is built, two stories high, the lower story open- 

 ing with large doors on the north side, with a large loft above, 

 where the dried fruit can be sweated, packed and stored for sale. 

 The climate is such that almost any shelter which suits the taste of 

 the purse of the producer will answer the purpose. 



Sulphuring. The regulations promulgated under the pure food 

 law enacted by Congress in 1906 established an arbitrary limit to 

 the percentage of sulphur compounds in evaporated fruits, which 

 was shown by producers to be destructive to their industry, and 

 otherwise unwarranted and unreasonable. As a result of their 

 protest the enforcement of such regulations was indefinitely post- 

 poned, pending the results of scientific investigation which began 

 in 1898 and never ended, and the use of sulphur has not been inter- 

 fered with. 



Before the employment of the sulphur process, California cured 

 fruits were suitable only to the lowest culinary uses. They were 

 of undesirable color, devoid of natural flavor, offensive by content 

 of insect life. They had no value which would induce production 

 and discernible future. Placing the trays of freshly cut fruit in 

 boxes or small "houses" with the fumes of burning sulphur, made 

 it possible to preserve its natural color and flavor during the evapo- 

 ration of its surplus moisture in the clear sunshine and dry air of 

 the California summer. It also prevented souring, which with some 

 fruits is otherwise not preventable in such open-air drying, and it- 

 protected the fruit from insect attack during the drying process. 



The action of sulphuring is not alone to protect the fruit, it 

 facilitates evaporation so that about one-half less time is required 

 therefor. Not the least important bearing of this fact is the feasi- 

 bility of curing fruits in larger pieces. The grand half-peaches, 

 half-apricots, half-pears of California are the direct result of the 

 sulphur process. Without it the fruit must be cut into small sec- 

 tions or ribbons, which in cooking break down into an uninviting 

 mass, while, with the sulphuring, it is ordinary practice to produce 

 the splendid halves with their natural color so preserved that they 

 have semblance to the product of the canners and are secured at a 

 fraction of the cost. 



There are various enclosures or houses for the application of 



ulphur fumes to the freshly cut fruit. Some are small for hand 



carnage of trays; some are large and the trays are wheeled into 



them upon trucks. The most common is a bottomless cabinet about 



