GATHERING AND MANAGEMENT OF APPLES. 305 



tern of drying fruit receive their merited reward in a price 

 so low per pound that they have no encouragement to dry 

 any more fruit. On the contrary, if they would peel their 

 apples neatly, and dry them properly, so that the dry fruit 

 would appear attractive as a desirable article of human 

 food, instead of presenting a disgusting and repulsive ap- 

 pearance, they would receive an encouraging compensation 

 for their labor. In one sense, the process of drying apples 

 is like making butter. Let the labor be performed in a 

 neat manner, and there will be no difficulty in obtaining a 

 generous and a remunerative price. On the contrary, if 

 neatness in milking, churning, and working the butter is 

 neglected, the reward is a low price for the products of one's 

 industry. The same is true in regard to drying apples. 



The philosophy of drying apples, or any other fruit, con- 

 sists in simply evaporating the water from the juice of the 

 fruit, and curing the soluble portions of the fruit, so that 

 they will not mould or decay. Hence, when fruit is dried 

 by solar heat on scaffolds, the fundamental requirements 

 are a rapid current of air, and the greatest amount of sun- 

 light upon a limited extent of surface. To secure the first, 

 the table or scaffold upon which the apple is to be spread 

 should not be level, but inclined toward the south at an an- 

 gle of ten or fifteen degrees, so as to present the surface 

 more fully to the sun. The second point is gained by re- 

 moving the skin and cutting the fruit into slices, the thin- 

 ner, the more expeditious the result. The drying is facili- 

 tated by moving the pieces about several times during the 

 day, so as to expose them more freely to the air and sun. 

 They should be protected from the dew by a water-tight 

 covering, as fruit will 'not dry during damp days and nights 

 when exposed to the ordinary influences of the atmosphere. 

 The process of drying must then be so rapid that no decay, 

 nor even discoloration, shall take place until the operation 



