Fruit Drying 9 1 



boxes. The ripe fruit is cut in halves, from the 

 stem to the calyx, placed on trays, and sulphured. 

 After being taken from the sulphur house the trays 

 are usually stacked, and when nearly dry are spread 

 out in the sun for a few days to finish off, and then 

 packed in sweat boxes before their delivery to the 

 packing shed. 



THE CURRANT. 



Currants, like other fruit, should not be picked 

 before they are thoroughly ripe ; that is, when they 

 are black and sweet, as otherwise there will be a loss 

 in both weight and colour of the dried product. 



Currants are shade dried, either on wooden or 

 wire trays, or on wire-netting drying racks. The 

 fruit is spread evenly on the trays or wire netting in 

 a single layer ; that is, not more than one bunch in 

 depth, and it is then covered up to keep off the 

 direct rays of the sun, either with empty trays 

 where the fruit is on trays, or with hessian if on a 

 rack. 



When dry, clean hessian is placed underneath the 

 wire trays or drying rack, the fruit is rubbed off on 

 to the hessian, and then put in sweat boxes ; but if 

 on wooden trays the fruit is rubbed off into the 

 sweat boxes direct. 



THE SULTANA. 



The sultana is generally dried on the rack or on 

 wooden trays. 



Drying racks may be constructed of various 

 kinds, but the principle underlying all of them is the 

 same. Stout posts are put into the ground in two 

 parallel rows, the rows being usually from 4 feet to 

 6 feet apart, according to the width of the wire- 

 netting used, and the posts from 8 feet to 10 feet 

 apart in the rows. The height of the posts will 



