CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



through, and no prunes. This long hanging screen is also used to 

 erade prunes after drying. There are several excellent manufactured 

 fruit graders on sale in this State which have largely displaced 

 home-made contrivances. 



The next step in the process is dipping in lye to thin and crack 

 the skin, which facilitates the escape of moisture in the drying 

 process. In the large caldron lye is made with one pound of con- 

 centrated lye to each thirty gallons of water, and kept boiling hot. 

 The fruit is put into wire baskets or galvanized pails with perforated 

 sides and bottoms, and dipped in the boiling lye for a few seconds, 

 or until the skin has a wrinkled appearance. After this dipping, 

 the prunes are placed on trays. 



A process of puncturing the skin of the prunes by causing them 

 to roll over needle points is also employed. There are now manu- 

 factured very capacious appliances for continuous dipping, punctur- 

 ing and spreading on the trays so that the fruit is handled in large 

 quantities at a minimum cost. In no branch of our fruit industry, 

 perhaps, has there been greater advance in labor-saving devices than 

 in prune handling. 



The following explicit hints on the curing of prunes are based 

 upon wide experience and observation in the Santa Clara Valley : 



Be sure to allow the prunes to obtain all of the sugar they can from the 

 trees by hanging until they drop of their own accord. Do not pick up until 

 prunes are soft to the touch. 



Do not keep prunes in boxes over night. They go through a sweat, and 

 do not make a first quality of dried fruit, and take much longer to dry. It 

 is better to let the prunes lie on the ground under the tree for several days 

 than to let the picked prunes lie in the boxes over one night. 



The dipping fluid must be kept at the boiling point and no prunes put 

 in unless it is boiling. It is ot a matter of how strong the lye is, but 

 how hot is the water. On the trays prunes will either dry or ferment. 

 Unless the dip is hot enough the prune will not immediately commence to 

 dry, but will, in a few days, become a chocolate color and refuse to dry, 

 sometimes a few on a tray, often half and sometimes nearly all. If the 

 water is at the boiling point all through the dip, two pounds of lye to the 

 100 gallons of water may be sufficient. If the water is not boiling, ten 

 pounds of lye to the 100 gallons of water may be required. 



Weather conditions govern the time prunes should remain on the trays. 

 Grasp a handful of prunes and give them a gentle squeeze and open the 

 hand quickly; if the prunes separate they are ready to stack the trays and 

 the fruit should be placed in the bin before it rattles on the trays. 



When the prunes are sufficiently dry put them where it will not rain 

 on them, but do not prevent the air from getting to them. Let the wind 

 have free access until the rains set in, then close the doors and make the 

 house as snug as you can. In making bins, be sure the boards are dry 

 and the bins well above ground, or you will have trouble. 



For dipping before packing, some use a brine dip about five pounds of 



salt to 100 gallons of water. The salt dip leaves the skin of the fruit in a 



bright, clear condition and brings out the blue bloom, which is desirable. 



Practically all packers now dip in pure hot water at 210 degrees for 2 to 4 



utes to partially dissolve juice enough to seal the pores of the skin. 



Many used to add licorice, glucose, glycerine or prune juice to make the 



shiny, but there is no need for this, because the public does not de- 



\M u y prune - Wh en properly dipped in hot water and packed at 



e wJiile hot and soft, a bloom comes back on them as they cool and 



harden. 



