COST OF EVAPORATING 81 



through the whole length again, with the chances that 

 it will then be dried altogether too much. If put in too 

 slow, or if the fruit is not coming in quite fast enough 

 to keep the business going, it may be too dry when it 

 reaches the top the first time. This is an especially 

 disadvantageous point if it happens to be necessary to 

 dry different kinds of fruit which do not require the 

 same length of time in the evaporator. In a machine 

 in which the trays are carried on hangers attached to 

 an endless chain subject to the control of the operator, 

 all this difficulty is obviated. The trays are put in 

 and taken out at the same place, and any tray can be 

 brought around to the door and examined as often as 

 desired, and taken out when ready. In putting in fruit, 

 one tray only is usually placed on a hanger at a time, 

 so that in the natural course of the work every tray 

 comes under the eye of the "stackman" as often as it 

 needs to be examined. 



I have no accurate figures as to the cost of evaporat- 

 ing, but it can be inferred approximately from the price 

 which operators charge other parties for doing the 

 work. In some sections this charge is one cent per 

 quart, in others as low as two cents per pound. Two 

 and a half cents per pound appears to be a fair price 

 for drying and cleaning, and as the evaporator owner, 

 of course, expects to make some profit, the actual cost 

 must be somewhat below this. The yield varies some- 

 what in different years, so that one cent a quart may 

 mean from three to four cents a pound. 



The berries are taken* from the machine when still so 

 soft and juicy that to an inexperienced person it does 



