190 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



pleasure of introducing to the audience Professor Maynard 

 of Amherst. 



Prof. S. T. Maynard (of Amherst). Mr. Chairman and 

 members of the Board of Agriculture : Before beginning the 

 subject of the afternoon, I wish to make a few statements in 

 regard to the evaporators which have been on exhibition 

 below. The immense quantity of fruit which goes to waste, 

 and especially of early varieties of apples, has led to a series 

 of experiments at the Hatch Experiment Station in the use 

 of evaporators for preserving this product. We have been 

 using three evaporators, — the American evaporator, the 

 Stahl evaporator and the Topping. These evaporators were 

 run for nineteen days, and they were run in the first place to 

 determine the work which each evaporator would do. The 

 American evaporator used 30 bushels of apples. The pro- 

 duct was 194 pounds, an average of 6 1-2 pounds to a bushel 

 of fruit. This fruit was droppings and cullings from cider 

 apples, and the product is shown in the samples below, 

 although selected, and a little better perhaps than the 

 average of the products. The cost per pound is about 5 

 cents. This varies a little with the ditferent evaporators. 

 The market price of the product we found according to the 

 wholesale market quotations to be from 6 to 9 cents per 

 pound. The retail market price quoted 13 to 14 cents per 

 pound. At this season of the year the price is very low, 

 but there is almost always an increase in price as the season 

 advances. Taking the range at 6 to 9 cents at wholesale and 

 13 to 14 cents per pound at retail, we have a value in the 

 evaporated apples of from 39 to 92 cents per bushel, without, 

 of course any sorting, packing or barrelling. In the case of 

 the Topping 44 bushels were used, producing 272 1-2 

 pounds, an average of 6 1-2 pounds of dried fruit per bushel, 

 at a cost of a trifle over 5 cents ; the Stahl consumed 50 

 bushels of apples, producing 323 1-2 pounds, producing 

 6 1-2 pounds per bushel. We find that there is a great 

 variation in quantity, according to the condition of the 

 apple, according to the kind of apple, also the size of the 

 apple. The larger the apple, the less will be the loss. The 

 riper the apple, the greater will be the loss. 



These evaporators are advertised as having a capacity as 



