EVAPORATING 



cess of changing the dark color of fruit to a lighter hue, 

 or of preventing the discoloration ; generally accom- 

 plished by sulfuring. Bloaters are prunes which in 

 drying swell up to an abnormal size ; generally pro- 

 duced by fermentation in over-ripe fruit. Dipping is 

 the process of cutting the skin of fresh prunes to 

 facilitate curing. The operation is performed by sub- 

 merging the fruit in boiling lye. Cured fruit is some- 

 times dipped in one of various solutions as a "fin- 

 ishing" process. Drip is the syrupy liquid which oozes 

 from prunes in the process of evaporation ; it generally 

 characterizes a poor prune or a poor evaporator. Frogs 

 are cured prunes having an abnormal shape ; a condi- 

 tion caused by curing unripe fruit. Pricking is the pro- 

 cess of puncturing the cuticle of fresh prunes. It is 

 done oy means of a machine, the essential part of which 

 is a board covered with projecting needles, over which 

 the prunes must pass. It accomplishes the same end as 

 lye dipping. Sizes is a term used to indicate the num- 

 ber of cured prunes it takes to make a pound. The 

 "four sizes" known in the markets are 60s-70s, 70s-80s, 

 80s-90s, 90s-100s. Sugaring is the formation of globules 

 of sugar on the cuticle of cured prunes. Sulfuring is 

 a process cured fruit is put through to give it a lighter 

 color. The fruit is subjected to fumes of burning sul- 

 fur before being exposed to the sun or put in evap- 

 orators. Sweating is a process cured fruit is subjected 

 to before packing, in which it is put in a room at a high 

 temperature and allowed to become moist. 



Curing different fruits. Apples and pears are peeled, 

 cored, cut in rings or quarters, and sulfured, before 

 being placed upon the drying trays. The time required 

 for curing is about three days out of doors and six to 

 twelve hours in the evaporator. There is considerable 

 trade in apples called "dumplings," which are whole 

 apples peeled and cored. Double the time is required in 

 evaporating them, but the price is higher. 



Apricots, peaches and nectarines must be fully ripe 

 before drying and without bruises. They are pitted, and 

 may or may not be peeled. If peeled, the operation is 

 done with machines or with lye, though the use of the 

 latter is considered a bad practice. The fruit is placed 

 on the trays cup side up. About three days are re- 

 quired for drying in the sun and about eight^hours are 

 required for evaporating. The cured product'should be 

 of a translucent amber color. 



i Berries are seldom sun-dried for the markets. For 

 evaporating they are placed on trays in quantities of 

 from sixteen to thirty quarts, given a temperature of 

 about 175 degrees at the start, and are finished in from 

 four to five hours, at a temperature of about 100 degrees. 

 After being taken from the evaporator, they are piled 

 for sweating in a warm, ventilated room. 



Figs for drying must be gathered when fully ripe. 

 Some growers prefer drying in shade rather than in 

 sun. Evaporators are seldom used. The fruit is not 

 allowed to dry hard, and before packing must be well 

 sweated. Usually, for "finishing," they are dipped in 

 salt water or syrup. The drying process requires from 

 five to eight days. 



Prunes are allowed to ripen until they fall to the 

 ground. Before being spread on the trays they are 

 dipped or pricked in order to thin or crack the skin, that 

 the moisture may easily escape, and dripping be pre- 

 vented. Sun-drying requires from one to three weeks, 

 while from sixteen to thirty hours are required for 

 evaporation. A thorough sweat prevents the sugaring 

 so common to this fruit. Before packing they are graded 

 in sizes. Dipping as a "finishing" process is practiced 

 by many producers. A good prune is soft, smooth and 

 meaty, with loose pit, and of an amber, dark red or 

 golden hue, depending upon the variety. 



Grapes for raisins are sun-dried. They must be 

 picked when fully ripe, the bunches, and the berries on 

 the bunches, being sorted as the picking progresses. 

 The operation of drying must be watched with care. 

 The process requires from eight to fourteen day.s, during 

 which time the bunches must be turned at least once. A 

 sweat is given before packing. Raisins are graded into 

 half a dozen or more brands for the market. 



U. P. HEDRICK. 



EVENING PRIMROSE. See (Enothera. 



EVERLASTING 



567 



EVERGREEN. Said of plants which do not shed all 

 their foliage at any one time, thereby remaining green- 

 or of leaves which persist for two or more years. In all 

 evergreen plants, the old leaves shed after a time, when 

 they become so overshadowed or crowded as to be of no 

 further use to the plant. The leaves of pines and spruces 

 persist for three to fifteen years. 



In the popular mind "Evergreen" and "Conifer " are 

 the same, but some conifers are deciduous, as the larches 

 and taxodiums. Moreover, in the tropics most trees and 

 shrubs are evergreen or nearly so. In the mind of the 

 gardener, evergreen and conifer are thoroughly dissoci- 

 ated, and in works on gardening hundreds of greenhouse 

 plants are called "evergreen," which represents dozens 

 of families besides the Coniferae. Evergreens other 

 than conifers are sometimes called " Broad -leaved 

 Evergreens." See Conifers. 



EVERLASTING. A term applied to flowers or plants 

 which retain their shape and other characteristics after 

 being dried. Equivalent to the French word Immortelle 

 (see Revue Horticole, 1890, p. 521). 



The most important commercially of the flowers 

 which retain their form and color in a dried state are 

 the French Immortelles, Helichrysum arenarium. 

 These flowers are used very extensively in France in 

 their natural yellow color, for the manufacture of me- 

 morial wreaths and crosses, which, being constructed 

 very compactly, are exceedingly durable, even in the 

 severest weather, and are exported in large numbers to 

 all parts of the world. The flowers bleached white, or 

 bleached and then dyed in various colors, are also 

 shipped in enormous quantities, either direct to this coun- 

 try or through some of the large exporting houses of Ger- 

 many. Approaching the French Immortelles in aggregate 

 value are the so-called Cape Flowers, HelicJirysum 

 grandiflorum, which have reached an enormous sale 

 in this country within a few years, and have largely 

 supplanted the Immortelles on account of their silvery 

 texture and greater beauty every way. They are natu- 

 rally white, but require bleaching in the sun to give them 

 the desired luster. They come from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and reach this country mainly via Hamburg. 



The common Everlasting of American and English 

 country gardens, Helichrysum bracteatum, is the only 

 one of these everlasting flowers grown to any extent in 

 America, and more or less extensive cultivation of them, 

 commercially, has been practiced in this country, but 

 still a large percentage are imported. They come in 

 white, straw and brown colors naturally, and take read- 

 ily to a variety of artificial tints ; these, together with 

 Ammobium alatum and the well known Globe Amaranth, 

 Gomphrena globosa, are grown and used to a consider- 

 able extent by the country folk in the construction of 

 the many forms of wreaths, stars, and other Christmas 

 greens, which they sell in the city markets in large 

 quantities, but their sale by wholesalers and jobbers 

 for general consumption is very limited. Statice inca na , 

 cultivated or wild from the swamps of southern Europe, 

 and Gypsophila in several species are used to a con- 

 siderable extent, and the sale of Statice especially, 

 which is popular in combination with Cape Flowers in 

 memorial designs, is quite an item with the dealers in 

 florists' supplies. 



Of the dried grasses, the Pampas Plumes of California, 

 Oynerium argenteum, native of South America, are the 

 only American production attaining any great commer- 

 cial importance. Their beautiful silky plumes, unap- 

 proached by any other horticultural product, are used 

 in enormous quantities for decorative purposes, and are 

 an important item of American export. They are used 

 mainly in sun-bleached state, but more or less dyeing, 

 often parti-colored, is also done. Bromus brizceformis is 

 the most extensively used of the smaller grasses. It is 

 mostly imported from Europe, via Erfurt, but has been 

 grown in considerable quantity in Michigan. It can be 

 imported, however, including duty, for about 25 per cent 

 less than it is possible to grow it in this country It is 

 handled in the natural state. Briza maxima, another 

 popular grass, is grown in Italy, whence it is shipped to 

 America, Philadelphia being the largest importing port. 

 Briza media, a medium sized grass, and Briza minima, 

 the flowers of which are as fine as saw-dust, are also 



