FRUIT-PRESERVING. 



353 



afford to raise the traditionally important crops. 

 A change of front became inevitable there as 

 here, and was made with a rapidity which Eng- 

 land might envy, but has not approached. In 

 Massachusetts the depression was great and the 

 population declined, yet in the same period, 

 owing to the increase in the production of milk, 

 eggs, vegetables, and fruit, the total value of 

 farm produce for the state was nearly twenty 

 per cent greater. Western New York, again, was 

 itself formerly the granary of North America, 

 and Rochester was a city of mills. All has been 

 changed by the introduction of Western wheat. 

 Wheat-fields have become orchards. Through- 

 out twelve of the most fertile counties of Western 

 New York the cultivation of fruit, especially 

 Apples, has superseded that of every other crop. 

 The orchard products of New York State have 

 been valued at nine million dollars in one year. 

 The greater part of these Apples are grown 

 round Rochester, where, within a radius of a 

 few miles, 2000 fruit-drying establishments are 

 now in operation. Only by the aid of these 

 evaporators could such a condition of cultivation 

 be maintained. Thousands of tons of Apples 

 are prepared annually from grades of fruit for- 

 merly wasted or allowed to rot on the ground. 

 The fruit-drier and the extension of fruit-farming 

 have gone hand in hand, and following naturally 

 upon their union the dried-fruit merchant has 

 appeared and flourishes. It is estimated that 

 during the autumn and winter of one year about 

 thirty million pounds of dried Apples were pro- 

 duced in the district named, and no less than 

 twelve million pounds of dried cores and parings 

 were exported from America in the same year. 

 This is an example of one kind of fruit only, as 

 Peaches, Plums, Pears, and other fruits are also 

 dried, though in smaller proportions. While in 

 California the dried -fruit trade, especially as 

 regards Prunes and Peaches, has assumed enor- 

 mous dimensions." 



In France the drying of fruits has for many 

 years been one of the leading industries in some 

 districts. With regard to Prunes alone (the 

 French Plums imported so largely to this coun- 

 try) it has been stated officially that in one 

 department, that of Lot-et-Garonne, the annual 

 commercial value of this fruit dried there 

 amounts to £400,000. 



The drying trade in Germany has been greatly 

 increased in recent years, for not only has fruit 

 been largely dealt with, but vegetables have also 

 received much attention. Dr. J. A. Voelcker, 

 who a short time since undertook an inspection 

 of the principal factories, thus reports concerning 

 vol. ii. 



them and the trade generally: — "In German), 

 unlike England, from the beginning of November 

 until the end of April there are no fresh vege- 

 tables to be had. Nor is there any fresh fruit 

 until the end of May or the beginning of June, 

 when Cherries come in. Germany with its pro- 

 tective tariff is not, as we in England are, able 

 to constantly receive fresh fruit and vegetables 

 from other lands, nor, on the other hand, is it 

 so overrun with foreign produce to the detri- 

 ment of the sale of its own. Hence the preser- 

 vation of fruit and vegetables in the dried state 

 acquires a greater significance in a country like 

 Germany than it would with us. As a further 

 proof of the importance of the subject in Ger- 

 many it is sufficient to mention that the army 

 and navy are provisioned, alike in times of peace 

 and war, with dried fruit and vegetables pre- 

 pared by the evaporating process ; so also is the 

 merchant service to a very large extent. The 

 steamships of the North German -Lloyd and 

 the Hamburg- American Line are similarly pro- 

 visioned, and I was informed at the time of my 

 visit to a certain factory, where fruit and vege- 

 table drying was conducted on a large scale, 

 that upwards of 20,000 people were being fed 

 daily at the Berlin Exhibition on the produce of 

 that establishment. As a contrast to this, I may 

 say that the result of certain inquiries which I 

 made in England showed that in the British 

 army and navy the quantities of dried fruits 

 and vegetables used are quite small, and that 

 the contracts for these are mainly in the hands 

 of French and German firms." 



From these statements it will be seen that 

 the evaporating process plays a highly important 

 part in the business of the world, that it renders 

 substantial assistance to fruit-growers, and con- 

 fers a benefit on the people generally in pro- 

 viding a means for the utilization of much 

 produce that would otherwise be wasted. There 

 have been strong prejudices against its employ- 

 ment in Britain, and some, who have only given 

 the system an imperfect trial, have condemned 

 it as unprofitable upon limited or unreliable 

 evidence. 



A few years ago it was only possible to 

 obtain large expensive fruit -evaporating ma- 

 chines, and some of them were of doubtful 

 efficiency. Now they can be had in sizes ranging 

 from those suitable for a cottage home up to 

 machines adapted for large fruitgrowers, from 

 which upwards of a ton of dried fruit and 

 vegetable produce can be turned out in one 

 day. The prices are proportionate, and between 

 the extremes of 30s. for the smallest size and 



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