Methods of Drying 81 



changes in the industry have appeared since that was 

 written, except that its location has shifted somewhat. 

 Few are now evaporated in Wayne County, Dundee 

 being the center of the industry at present. It has spread 

 fairly well over the eastern part of Yates and northeastern 

 part of Schuyler counties. 



A Western Method of Drying 



A novel method of drying raspberries is reported from 

 Idaho. 1 The climate is there so dry that the berries are 

 dried on the bushes. The fruiting canes are laid down in 

 spring to keep the young shoots from mingling with them. 

 Two men with a pole do this and they are held down by a 

 wire. The canes are cut with a horse and sled cutter, 

 rolled into bunches and stood up against the new growth 

 to dry, which takes from four to seven days. A wagon 

 with flat-bottomed rack and high sides is then driven 

 through. One man pitches the bundles on and two others 

 thrash off the berries with forks into the rack. It is said 

 that three men can thrash and fan some three acres per 

 day. Each berry carries a stem, which is removed by 

 running them through a machine with rollers designed 

 for the purpose. Idaho conditions are considered ideal 

 for the purpose and when the irrigation and culture have 

 been right the fruit is claimed to be much sweeter and 

 richer than that which is hand-picked and evaporated in 

 the East. Two men are able to care for forty acres, with 

 one or two extra for a month or so during harvest. The 

 writer claims that the method practically eliminates the 

 1 Rural New Yorker, 1909: 963 & 1041. 



