﻿48 BULLETIN 1141, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



use of larger quantities or more prolonged exposure, or both. When 

 the fruit us peeled, so that penetration occurs from both surfaces 

 rather than from the stone cavity alone, the time of exposure may be 

 reduced to 20 to 25 minutes. With the drier firm-fleshed varieties, 

 such as the Lovell, Muir. Salwey, and a few others which are grown 

 for drying purposes in California, somewhat more prolonged treat- 

 ment is necessary to insure good penetration, but there is no question 

 that exposures for 3 to 10 hours are needless and productive of no use- 

 ful result. The operator should determine by experiment the mini- 

 mum time which will give satisfactory results with his particular 

 equipment and raw material and carefully avoid overexposure and 

 excess in the use of sulphur. 



HANDLING PEACHES IN THE EVAPORATOR. 



The bleaching completed, the fruit is ready to be placed in the 

 evaporator. Care must be exercised in transferring the fruit in 

 order that the halves may remain cup side uppermost, thus preserv- 

 ing any juice which may have collected in the stone cavities during 

 sulphuring. 



The temperature at the outset should not be allowed to exceed 140° 

 F., and it may be increased to 165° F. for finishing. As the trays 

 are pushed down to the lower end of the tunnel, the fruit should be 

 turned over or stirred to promote uniformity in drying. 



The length of time required to dry the fruit will vary with the 

 equipment, the efficiency with which it is managed, the weather con- 

 ditions at the time evaporation is being carried on, probably to some 

 extent the weather conditions during the development of the fruit, 

 and more especially the weather conditions during the few weeks im- 

 mediately prior to picking. The variety is also a very definite factor 

 in the time required for drying. Beers Smock and other compara- 

 tive^ dry-fleshed sorts may be in condition for removal in 5 to 7 

 hours; others, under the same conditions of operation, in 6 to 8 

 hours, while very juicy varieties may need to remain in the evaporator 

 from 12 to 15 hours. Obviously, however, such sorts as the latter are 

 not desirable for drying, unless they possess other qualities which 

 give them some peculiar value. 



Good judgment, which develops only with experience, is necessary 

 to determine just when the fruit is in a proper state of dryness to be 

 withdrawn from the evaporator. In general, the fruit should possess 

 the same physical properties as apples when evaporated. It should 

 not be possible to bring free moisture to the surface upon squeezing 

 a freshly cut surface tightly between the fingers; the fruit should 

 have a velvety, springy, pliable texture, and when a double handful 

 is tightly pressed together the pieces should immediately fall apart 

 when the hands are relaxed. 



When the fruit comes from the evaporator, as in the case of apples, 

 there will he some pieces that obviously contain too much moisture; 

 others will be so dry and hard that they will rattle when they are 

 handled. By placing them in a pile of considerable size and work- 

 ing them over several tine- during a period of a week or two, as is 

 done with apples (see p. 43) the entire lot may be brought to a uni- 

 form moisture content. When this stage is reached the fruit is trans- 

 ferred to the storage room, where it remains until it is packed for the 

 market. 



