324 



pliable to the touch, but not sticky. After sweating, the fruit is 

 graded and packed. A layer of fruit, flattened between the fingers 

 or run through a clothes wringer, is placed at the bottom, cup-side 

 down, the box is well filled, and pressure is applied. When the 

 box is taken up and dressed, it is so done that, when opening, what 

 was the bottom becomes top. 



Peaches are dried either peeled or unpeeled. A paring knife 

 is used for peeling, and the knife for pitting Clingstone peaches. 



Knives for Pitting Clingstone Peaches and soft fruit. 



The pit of Clingstone peaches is best removed with a knife y 

 known as the Tarlton knife, such as is represented in the accom- 

 panying figure. It consists of a strong blade, with a short 

 U-shaped blade set at the point. Unlike the spoon-shaped knife, 

 which can only be used on soft fruit, it answers for both soft 

 or firm fruit. 



It takes 51bs. of apricots, 4 or 51bs. of dry fleshed peaches, 

 and 5 to 71bs. of more juicy peaches to lib. of dried fruit. 



PRUNES AND PLUMS. 



Plums are dried for stewing, they are cut open and pitted. 

 Prunes are dried with the stone. Being a fruit of firm texture and 

 not easily bruised, the labour of hand-picking is generally dispensed 

 with. 



The fruit is allowed to hang until dead ripe and they fall from 

 the trees, when these are lightly shaken ; the last of the crop has to 

 be gathered by hand, and is generally used for a second quality. 



They are graded before drying either in some home-made 

 grader, consisting of a long chute with three different sizes of wire 

 screen on it, or they run through some grading machine of which 

 several patterns are used. Unless properly graded, of the one size 

 for each tray, they dry unevenly, some being over-dried and others 

 not dried enough. They are then dipped, as explained above, for 

 20 to 30 seconds. Should the lye take off the skin, shorten the time of 

 dipping by a few seconds. The plate on the opposite page, showing 

 the drying trays and raisin grader, is reproduced from a bulletin 

 I published some years ago in the Agricultural Gazette of New South 

 Wales. 



