536 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



California producers are usually quite willing to show visitors the 

 methods they employ. Though this is the better way of proc- 

 ing, a few general hints will be given of methods with different 

 fruits. 



Apples. There seems little use of drying apples unless a vei 

 light-colored, handsome product can be turned out. This can be 

 done by sulphuring as soon as cut, and sun drying in a dry region, 

 or by the use of a machine evaporator in regions of greater atmos- 

 pheric humidity. Recently the product has largely increased in 

 such large producing regions as the Pajaro valley, and new labor 

 saving devices are being continually introduced. 



Apricots. Apricots for drying should be fully ripe but not soft 

 enough to be mushy. By the use of sulphur and sun heat, an amber- 

 colored, semitranslucent fruit is obtained. The prevailing method 

 of gathering is to shake down the fruit upon sheets, but the best 

 product is hand picked. * Pit the fruit by a clean cut completely 

 around in the suture; do not cut part way round and then tear 

 apart a clean-cut edge is essential. Put on the trays with the 

 skin down, or with the cup up, as it is sometimes described; sul- 

 phur, and then put in the sun. About three days of interior-valley 

 sunshine will finish the apricots. Apricots will yield on the aver- 

 age one pound of dried fruit to five pounds of fresh. 



Berries and Cherries. These fruits are only dried in the sun 

 in small quantities for local sale, and ordinary farm-house meth- 

 ods are employed. 



Figs.* The fruit may be carefully picked from the tree so as 

 to secure the whole of the stem, when the fruit is fully ripe, as is 

 known by the seaming or slight shriveling of the skin. In drying 

 the common black fig from large trees, however, the fruit is gen- 

 erally gathered from the ground, which, is cleaned and smoothed 

 before the crop ripens. In drying black figs the fruit is placed on 

 trays and in most cases exposed to the sun, but some foot-hill 

 growers maintain the advantage of drying in the shade. The figs 

 should not be allowed to dry hard. When sufficiently cured, put 

 in sweat-boxes for several days, and when ready to pack dip in 

 boiling salt water, or, as is the practice of some producers, dip in 

 a thin syrup, boiling hot. In either method a good, pliable condi- 

 tion and handsome color are obtained. In drying white figs many 

 sulphur the fruit from fifteen minutes to an hour before putting 

 out on the trays. Figs which dry slowly have to be turned several 

 times during the drying, and those w r hich are apt to run juice are 

 placed so that the eye is raised a little until the juice is thickened. 



*A special illustrated account of handling dried figs in California is given in "The 

 Smyrna Fig at Home and Abroad," by George C. Roeding, Fresno, Gal. 



