DRYING APRICOTS AND FIGS 451 



pheric humidity. Recently the product has largely increased in such 

 large producing regions as the Pajaro Valley, and nearly a hundred 

 drying houses are being operated. 



Apricots. Apricots for drying should be fully ripe but not soft 

 enough to be mushy. By the use of sulphur and sun heat, an amber- 

 colored, semi-translucent fruit is obtained. The prevailing method of 

 gathering is to shake down the fruit upon sheets, but the best pro- 

 duct is hand-picked. Pit the fruit by a clean cut completely around 

 in the suture; do not cut part way around and then tear apart a 

 clean-cut edge is essential. Put on the trays with the skin down, or 

 with the cup up, as it is sometimes described; sulphur and then put 

 in the sun. 



Fine apricots are produced in the interior valley by stacking the 

 trays as they come from the sulphur house and not exposing the 

 fruit at all to direct sunshine. Some start in the sun and finish in 

 the stack. Sufficient curing is not determined by length of exposure 

 but by the condition of the fruit. One grower describes it as "a 

 feel like chamois skin and refusal to slip through the fingers when 

 pressing." Another grower squeezes a double handful of the fruits 

 and if they fall apart on opening the hands he considers it safe to 

 put in the bins. The same tests are suggestive also in the case of 

 other cut fruits. 



A few apricots are dried whole, but the demand for them is not 

 yet demonstrated. 



Berries and Cherries. These fruits are only dried in the sun 

 in small quantities, and ordinary farm-house methods are employed. 



Figs. The fruit is generally gathered from the ground, which 

 is cleaned and smoothed before the crop ripens. In drying black 

 figs the fruit is placed on trays and in most cases exposed to the 

 sun, but some growers maintain the advantage of drying in the 

 shade. 



The Adriatics are sulphured. Smyrnas usually are not. Adriatics 

 are dried in direct sunlight from one to three days, depending 

 upon the heat and humidity, while Smyrnas are best dried by stack- 

 ing the trays so as tc allow free circulation of air. Over-dried figs 

 become tough, woody and inferior. After sorting out the blem- 

 ished fruit, the figs are dumped from the trays into the perforated 

 containers, washed for twenty minutes in cold water containing four 

 ounces of salt to the gallon of water and again spread out for a 

 final drying of half a day in the sun. They are then placed in piles 

 on a clean floor or in sweat-boxes, and allowed to go through a 

 sweat for about two weeks, being turned two or three times during 

 that period. Sweating equalizes the moisture and gives a better 

 texture. The figs can then be stored for packing or sent to the 

 packing house. 



Pears. California dried pears have been largely made of culls 

 and windfalls unsuitable for canning or shipping, but there is devel- 

 oping a product from the best pears which is of high excellence. 



