CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



result of the sulphur process. Without it the fruit must be cut in 

 small sections or ribbons, which in cooking break down into an 

 uninviting mass, while, with the sulphuring, it is ordinary practice 

 to produce the splendid halves with their natural color so preserved 

 that they lie in cut glass dishes in suggestive semblance to the finest 

 product of the canners, and are secured at a fraction of the cost. 

 There are various contrivances for the application of sulphur 

 fumes to the freshly-cut fruit. Some are small for hand carriage 

 of trays ; some are large and the trays are wheeled into them upon 

 trucks. The most common is a bottomless cabinet about five or six 

 feet high, of a width equal to the length of the tray and a depth a 

 little more than the width of the tray. The cabinet has a door the 

 whole width of one side, and on the sides within cleats are nailed 

 so that the trays of fruit slip in like drawers into a bureau. Some 

 push in the trays so that the bottom one leaves a little space at the 

 back, the next a little space at the front, and so on, that the fumes 

 may be forced by the draft to pass between the trays back and 

 forward. The essentials seem to be open holes or dampers in the 

 bottom and top of the cabinet so that the fumes from the sulphur 

 burning at the bottom may be thoroughly distributed through the 

 interior, and then all openings are tightly closed. To secure a tight 

 chamber the door has its edge felted and the cabinet is made of 

 matched lumber. The sulphur is usually put on a shovel or iron 

 pot, and it is ignited by a hot coal, or a hot iron, or it is thrown on 

 paper of which the edges are set on fire, or a little alcohol is put on 

 the sulphur and lighted, etc. The sulphur is usually burned in a pit 

 in the ground under the cabinet. The application of sulphur must 

 be watchfully and carefully made, and the exposure of the fruit 

 should only be long enough to accomplish the end desired. The 

 exposure required differs with different fruits, and with the same 

 fruits in different conditions, as must be learned by experience. 



Grading and Cleaning. After the fruit is sufficiently dried (and 

 it is impossible to describe how this point may be recognized except 

 by the experienced touch), it is gathered from the trays into large 

 boxes and taken to the fruit house. Some growers put it into a 

 revolving drum of punctured sheet iron, which rubs the pieces 

 together and separates it from dust, etc., which falls out through 

 the apertures as the drum revolves. Others empty the fruit upon a 

 large wire-cloth table and pick it over, grading it according to size 

 and color, and at the same time the dust and small articles of foreign 

 matter fall through the wire cloth. The fanning mill for cleaning 

 grain may also be used for rapid separation of dirt, leaves, etc., with 

 proper arrangement of metal screens. 



Sweating. All fruit, if stored in mass after drying, becomes 

 moist. This action should take place before packing. To facili- 

 tate it, the fruit is put in piles on the floor of the fruit-house and 





