CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



even temperature. No fruit should be packed before "going through 

 the sweat." If this is not done, discoloration and injury will result. 



Dipping Before Packing. All fruits except prunes can be 

 packed in good condition without dipping, providing 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 cannot 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 al- 

 lowed 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 measurement, and it will hold twenty-five 

 pounds of fruit. 



METHODS WITH DIFFERENT FRUITS 



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 facilitated. Any one 

 who contemplates production on a large scale should personally 

 visit leading regions and inform himself by inquiry and observa- 

 tion. Such an education will save mistakes, which may cost many 

 times the expense of getting wise. California producers are usually 

 quite willing to show visitors the methods they employ. Though 

 this is the better way of proceeding, a few general hints will be 

 given of methods with different fruits. 



Apples. There seems little use of drying apples unless a very 



it-colored, handsome product can be turned out. This can be 



done by sulphuring as soon as cut, and sun-drying in a dry region, 



or by the use of a machine evaporator in regions of greater atmos- 



