CANA DIAN llORTIClU/rURIST. 



199 



Handling Fruit for Market. 



Cold storage will not iiuiko good 

 fruit out of poor, Seckel pears into 

 Biirtlett's nor bruised fruit solid. 

 Muth depends on the picking. If the 

 fruit he left on the tree until fully ripe 

 it will not keep ; nor fallen fruit nor 

 that whipped ott' the tree. The fruit 

 should go to the cooler before any 

 sound specimen shows ripeness, and a 

 single pear, apple or grape that is im- 

 perfect may and probably will entirely 

 spoil all that are put with it in the 

 same package. The nearer to the 

 coolei- the orchard is, and the sooner the 

 fiuit is stored after picking, the better 

 it will keep. Where late winter pears 

 and apples are stored they are often, 

 after late picking, put in bushel boxes 

 and stacked on the north side of some 

 building to remain until quite severe 

 weather before going into the cooler. 

 These same boxes are then removed to 

 their places in the retarding house and 

 piled one on another with thin pieces 

 of lumber V)etween them to admit the 

 air. Sununer pears should be picktsd 

 before they ripen and put in the cooler 

 if the best prices are expected. To 

 know whether the fruit is ready, raise 

 a specimen carefully by putting the 

 hand under it, and if it part readily 

 from the tree, although it be "as green 

 as grass " it is ready to ai-tificially ripen. 

 Pears that become mealy on the tree, 

 often rotting at the core, are juicy and 

 delicious if ripened in the low, steady 

 temperature of the cooling-room. 



A great point in profits is in properly 

 selling what is handled. A good re- 

 putation and neat packing are as 

 necessary as good fruit. Attractive 

 packages and surroundings often .sell 

 the fruit at once. So important is this 

 that very choice cases of fruit often 

 " go begging " for a buyer, while hand- 

 somely a' ranged lot", of inferior varie- 

 ties in poor condition sell rapidly. 



Evaporating Fruit. 

 This is one of the leading industries 

 in our county. Years ago large quan- 



tities were dried in the sun, but now 

 it is nearly all done under cover. The 

 price explains the reason. In our 

 local papers common dried apples are 

 ((uoted as retailing at five cents a pound 

 and evaporated at ten cents — a very 

 satisfactory reason truly. 



Many growers dry their own fiuit, 

 generally using a small dry-house about 

 four feet by six and six feet high, with 

 a little furnace at tlie bottom for heat- 

 ing and racks filling the space above. 

 These are sold for about ;?-?">. Others 

 for greater safety from lire, are made 

 entirely of metal. With one of these, 

 ten bushels can be dried daily. But 

 the most of the evaporating is now 

 done by large establishments, using 

 from 100 to 300 bushels per day. 

 Probably in this town and the next 

 one north there are over a dozen such. 

 The owners evaporate their own fruit 

 and buy from others, either by the 

 bushel delivered or on the trees in t!ie 

 orchard. Last year the price paid by 

 the evaporators varied from 1 .5 cents a 

 bushel for windfalls to 'M) cents for 

 good, picked fruit. 



Not only are the best portions of the 

 apples saved, but the whole is utilized. 

 The skins and cores are dried and sold 

 for jelly stock, and the small ones are 

 cut up and dried without peeling. 

 Some have also a cider press and use 

 these for cider and vinegar. 



Whether this evaporating is done in 

 a large dry-hou.se or a small one, the 

 fruit, after being prepared for drying, 

 is exposed to the fumes of burning sul- 

 phur before putting on the racks. 

 This is done to keep it from turning a 

 dark color. " Fire and brimstone " are 

 a necessity for this end — as for bleach- 

 ing in other cases. 



In these same establishments, botli 

 great and small, raspberries are al.so 

 evaporated in innnense quantities. 

 They are cultivated hereabouts exten- 

 sively for this object — some growers 

 raising from five to twelve acres each. 

 Of course one of the special benefits to 

 any locality from such industries is t!ie 



