BY-PRODUCTS 359 



lowest position. For best results I find that the fruit should not be spread 

 too thickly on the trays — less than two inches — and should be stirred once 

 or twice during evaporation. 



We do not undertake to peel any considerable quantity of fruit with knives, 

 but use a paring machine, which also slices the apples into rings. However, it 

 is necessary to do some hand work, and for this we have short-bladed knives 

 with smooth wood handles that will not cramp the hand. 



While it does not improve the quality, the trade demands that apples should 

 be white. The fruit is subjected to the fumes of burning sulphur as soon as 

 pared and sliced, and before being put into the evaporator. Any tight box 

 with cleats nailed to the sides into which the trays may be placed will answer, 

 the sulphur being burned below. We do this by placing a few live coals in an 

 old pot, adding a few sticks of brimstone at a time till the bleaching is done, 

 which is in from thirty minutes to an hour. We use half a pound of sulphur 

 to a hundred pounds of green fruit. 



We burn wood, but coal will answer as well if the furnace is constructed for 

 its use. In our small evaporator about five or six hours are required for drying, 

 depending, of course, on the kind of fruit. Where a sufficient force is kept at 

 work it is possible to make two runs a day. The fruit that is pared and sliced 

 in the afternoon may be dried the next morning, but in the case of apples the 

 bleaching must be done before they discolor. 



The fruit will not have the hard, dry appearance of the sun-dried product, 

 as more of the juice is retained, the outside being sufficiently seared to preserve 

 it. You can tell when it is dry by squeezing some of it. If it is spongy and 

 falls apart when released, it has dried sufficiently. Compare it with the com- 

 mercial product ; it should not be quite so dry when removed from the evap- 

 orator, as it has to be cured for several days before packing. We pour the 

 fruit on a clean floor of a room from which flies are excluded, and turn it over 

 every few days, that the whole may become more uniform, the drier pieces 

 absorbing moisture from those containing a surplus. 



It may not be amiss to state here that we use all apple and peach parings 

 for vinegar. They are put in a clean barrel and sufficient rainwater added to 

 cover them. In a few claws fermentation has begun, and as soon as disintegra- 

 tion has commenced the liquid is strained off, poured into another barrel, and 

 allowed to stand till it is vinegar. 



Evaporation on a large scale. 1 There is an increasing demand 

 for dried apples of the highest quality. The tendency has some- 

 times been to make quantity at the expense of quality, but prices 

 are governed by the grade as well as by the supply. The cleanest, 

 whitest fruit, well cored, well trimmed, well bleached, well ringed, 

 and well dried, is most in demand. Carelessness in any particular 

 injures the product. 



1 After Farmers' Bulletin No. zgi, United States Department of Agriculture. 



