FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRESERVING. 



289 



that can be left in with safety, the better the quality of 

 the fruit. But that point of safety may mean that from 

 two-thirds to nine-tenths of the whole weight has to be 

 extracted. Thus from 

 7 to lOlb. of apples, 

 make lib. dried; from 

 2 to 51b. plums make 

 lib. dried prunes, and 

 others proportionately. 

 Ripe well grown fruit 

 giving the highest re- 

 turns. 



Time and Heat In 

 Drying. From four to 

 ten hours, according to 

 the fruit contents of 

 water, and the capacity 

 of the machine to send 

 through heated air, 

 from 120deg. to 220deg. 

 The greatest heat is 

 applied to the fresh 

 fruit, until signs of 

 wilting are seen, in 

 say, fifteen to thirty 

 minutes. 



Advantages of Dry- 

 ing. Less cost for 



.. ,!!, Circular Dryer InsideArraugement. 



appliances ; suitability 



for small as well as large quantities; convenience 

 and lower cost of carriage. As a rule the weight is 

 reduced 75 per cent.; or 10011). is converted into 2511)., 

 which retain nearly all the properties of the fruit, except 

 the water. The water is restored for use as required by 

 soaking the dried fruit over night. 



Drying in the Sun. There aro always risks from 

 change of weather, flies, &c., and sun drying may occupy from 

 five to twenty days, involving much laliour. In some 

 cases a combination of sun and dryer is carried out. And 

 rough drying is done in big bush chimneys in cases. 



