80 BUSH-FRUITS 



is the less liability to scorching. From several years' 

 experience with a large hot air machine, however, I 

 do not think this point has much weight, for with 

 any reasonable care no fruit is scorched by either 

 method. The temperature of the stack should run 

 from 160 to 180 Fahrenheit. One very essential point 

 in any machine, whatever the make, is a strong draft 

 of air through the stack. The amount of vapor given 

 off by a machine full of hot, green fruit is very great, 

 and every possible facility is needed for carrying it 

 away. The difference in the amount of fruit which can 

 be dried in a damp, cloudy day and in a bright, clear 

 day when the wind is in the northwest, emphasizes this 

 point very strongly. In some of the large horizontal 

 machines, it is necessary to secure this draft by means 

 of large fans revolved by steam power. 



With many of the machines in use, the fruit is 

 put in at the lower end ; the trays follow one after 

 the other, and can only be taken out at the opposite 

 end, necessitating a two -story building if the evap- 

 orator has an upright stack. This plan has the 

 advantage of utilizing all the space in the stack, but, 

 on the other hand, it possesses some decided disad- 

 vantages. All the trays must be carried down stairs 

 or let down through the floor each time they are 

 used, or carried back the length of the evaporator if it 

 is a horizontal machine. Moreover, all the work must 

 be timed and a tray put in just so often, otherwise 

 the fruit may reach the top too green, and all opera- 

 tions must stop and wait till it is dry, or that on 

 two or three trays must be put together and be sent 



