GARDENING FOR ALL. 143 
‘Pears ought to be pared, cut in halves, and cored. 
Small pears may be dried whole after being peeled, no other 
preparation being necessary, but steaming is sometimes an 
advantage. 
‘‘ Cherries require exactly the same treatment as plums 
but do not take so long to dry. 
“ Figs ought to be placed in the evaporator at once and 
treated the same as plums but without the cooling process. 
“Currants of all kinds only require “grading” before 
being dried. Time, two to three hours. 
“French beans and scarlet-runners are sliced in the 
same manner as when prepared for cooking. Place them in 
water as they are sliced until there is sufficient to fill a tray, 
and then put them in the evaporator in a brisk heat and treat 
in exactly the same manner as for apple rings. Time 
required about two hours. 
“‘Green peas ought to be treated similarly to French 
beans (but not sliced ?) 
«« Asparagus and tomatoes;may also be successfully dried. 
“Herbs of all kinds are dried with great advantage. 
They are placed on the trays—not too thickly—and entered in 
the upper flue. On their arrival at the top or upper end 
they will be found almost sufficiently dried. Withdraw them 
and rub them slightly on the trays, and all that is thoroughly 
dry will then fall through the wire bottoms; then double the 
quantity of the remainder which is not sufficiently dry and 
return it down the lower flue. On its arrival at the bottom 
all will be thoroughly dry, and only the rough stalks will be 
left after the final rubbing. 
“The evaporator may be used for drying any kind of 
vegetable, animal, or minerai substance that requires to be 
preserved in such manner. In India it is used for drying 
flesh for future use. 
‘© We will now view the question of drying fruit from a 
commercial point. The cost of labour is not excessive ; one 
person with a paring and coring machine can dry about 400 
pounds of apples, with a No. 2 machine, in a day of twenty- 
four hours, using an average of seventy-five pounds of coal. 
A bushel of green apples weighing fifty-six pounds and of 
