THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK II3 



was much inferior to that from regions having favorable conditions for 

 the evaporation of fruit. New York can hardly hope to compete with 

 California in curing peaches but two factors make it barely possible that 

 this State might make a minor industry out of curing peaches. The factors 

 are the enormous production of peaches in the State, over-production being 

 frequent, and the existence of a great number of apple-evaporators which 

 might be utilized in curing the earlier ripening peaches. It seems worth 

 while, therefore, to go rather fully into the details of curing peaches as 

 practiced in California with the hope that their methods may be modified 

 for use in New York evaporators. The subjoined footnote gives the 

 best account we are able to find of the dried-fruit industry in California 

 and of curing peaches in particular.^ 



' Wickson Cal. Fruits 450-456. 19 14. 



" Trays for Drying. — The fruit is placed upon trays for exposure to the sun. There is great varia- 

 tion in the size of the trays. The common small tray is made of one-half inch sugar-pine lumber two feet 

 wide and three feet long, the boards forming it being held together by nailing to a cleat on each end, one 

 by one and a quarter inches, and a lath or narrow piece of half-inch stuff is nailed over the ends of the 

 boards, thus stiffening the tray and aiding to prevent warping. 



■■ A large tray which is used by some growers is four feet square, and is made of slats three-eighths of 

 an inch thick, and one and a half inches wide, the slats being nailed to three cross slats three-eighths of 

 an inch thick and three inches wide, and the ends nailed to a narrow strip one-half inch thick by three- 

 quarters of an inch wide on the other side. 



" Since large drying yards have been supplied with tramways and trucks for moving the fruit instead 

 of hand carriage, larger trays, three feet by six or three feet by eight, have been largely employed. These 

 tramways lead from the cutting sheds to the sulphur boxes and thence to various parts of the large drying 

 grounds, making it possible to handle large amounts of fruit at a minimum cost. 



" Protecting Fruit from Dew. — In the interior there are seldom any deposit of dew in the drying season 

 but occasionally there are early rains before the drying season is over. The fruit is then protected by 

 piling the trays one upon another, in which operation the thick cleats serve a good purpose. In dewy 

 regions the trays are piled at night, or cloth or paper is sometimes stretched over the fruit, thus reducing 

 the discoloration resulting from deposits of moisture upon it. 



" Drying Floors. — For the most part the trays are laid directly on the ground, but sometimes a staging 

 of posts and rails is built to support them, about twenty inches from the ground. The drying trays are 

 sometimes distributed through the orchard or vineyard, thus drying the fruit with as little carrying as 

 possible. Others clear off a large space outside the plantation and spread the trays where full sunshine 

 can be obtained. Drying spaces should be selected at a distance from traveled roads, to prevent the 

 deposit of dust on the fruit * * * 



" Grading. — It is of great advantage in drying to have all the fruit on a tray of approximately the same 

 size, and grading before cutting is advisable. Machines are now made which accomplish this very cheaply 

 and quickly. 



" Cutting-Sheds. — Shelter of some kind is always provided for the fruit-cutters. Sometimes it is only 

 a temporary bower made of poles and beams upon which tree branches are spread as a thatch; sometimes 

 open-side sheds with boarded roof, and sometimes a finished fruit-house is built, two stories high, the 

 lower story opening with large doors on the north side, and with a large loft above, where the dried fruit 

 can be sweated, packed, and stored for sale. The climate is such that almost any shelter which suits the 

 taste of the purse of the producer will answer the purpose. 



