STOKING, PRESERVING, ETC. 93 



them, are properly supplied; otherwise you will have a 

 different product, and no matter how fine your apples, 

 how perfect your paring, coring, and trimming, or how 

 white you may have bleached them, you have not made 

 truly evaporated fruit, and no matter how many have 

 been deceived by its bright colour, or full weight, or 

 fancy packing, your fruit will not stand the test of long 

 keeping in warm, damp weather. The natural starch, 

 gluten, and albumen of the fruit, instead of being cured, 

 or made indestructible by the chemical changes which 

 constitute the difference between the evaporated and 

 dried fruits, will absorb moisture from the air, will swell 

 or increase in bulk, and be attacked by mould, will 

 absorb additional oxygen, and finally sour and decay.' 



" The mode of preparing apples for drying in an 

 evaporator is, first, to pare them, then to remove the 

 core, and finally to cut them into slices or rings. It is 

 customary now to submit the pared apple before slicing 

 to the fumes of sulphui*, which process is called ' bleach- 

 ing,' the object being to prevent the discoloration of the 

 fruit, which is nearly certain to take place unless the 

 fruit is placed in the heated evaporator directly it is cut. 

 The bleaching process is said to improve the appearance 

 of the fruit, and not to injure its flavour. Paring, coring, 

 and slicing are done very rapidly by ingenious machines 

 which are to be bought at a moderate price. The pre- 

 pared fruit is then placed on wire trays, made to fit inside 

 the drying-chamber of the evaporator, and there remains 

 until the whole of the moisture has been abstracted. 

 The time occupied in doing this varies from 2^ hours to 4 

 or even 5 hours, according- to the kind of apples operated 

 upon. After passing through the evaporator, the next 

 thing is to pack the dried fruit in neat boxes which hold 



