EVAPORATION OF FRUITS. 35 



tunnels to the storage room, and their use saves much time which 

 would otherwise be spent in transferring loaded trays about the plant 

 by hand. 



SMALL DRIERS OR EVAPORATORS. 



Many persons produce quantities of fruit which are insufficient to 

 justify the- erection of an evaporator of the capacity here described, 

 but which are of such quantity and value as to demand that provision 

 of a small drying outfit capable of caring for the surplus be made. 

 Farmers' Bulletin 984. Farm and Home Drying of Fruits and Vege- 

 tables, describes a number of inexpensive driers having capacities 

 ranging from 100 to 2.000 pounds of fresh fruit daily. These evap- 

 orators are of such types that they can easily be built by any one who 

 can use ordinary tools, and their construction and operation, the 

 accessory equipment needed, and the preparatory treatment of the 

 various ^fruits are fully described. As that bulletin is available for 

 the use of individuals or groups of growers having small quantities of 

 materials to be dried, it is unnecessary to describe small driers here. 



TREATMENT OF THE VARIOUS FRUITS. 



APPLES. 



FRUIT SUITABLE FOR EVAPORATING. 



There is an increasing demand for evaporated apples of the 

 highest quality. The tendency has sometimes been to make quantity 

 at the expense of quality. But prices are governed not only by the 

 supply but also by the grade. The cleanest, whitest fruit, that is well 

 cored, trimmed, bleached, ringed, and dried, is most in demand. 

 Carelessness in any particular injures the product. 



Primarily, the economic usefulness of an apple evaporator is 

 through its utilization of grades of fruit which can not be marketed 

 to good advantage in a fresh state, and it is these grades that are 

 most often evaporated. But the magnitude of the crop also influences 

 the grade of the evaporated product in a decided way. In seasons 

 of abundant crops and low prices for fresh fruit, large quantities 

 of apples that would ordinarily be barreled are evaporated, and 

 the grade of stock produced is correspondingly improved. On the 

 other hand, in years of scanty crops, when all apples that can pos- 

 sibly be shipped are in demand at high prices, only the very poorest 

 fruit is evaporated, thus lowering the average grade of the output. 



It is clear, however, that the quality of the product as a whole is 

 improving from year to year. Better methods of production, com- 

 petition between producing districts, stricter grading rules for fresh 

 fruit which result in much fruit having superficial blemishes but 

 otherwise good, as well as fruit lacking in color, being sent to the 

 evaporators, and an increased demand for the better grades of dried 

 fruit on the part of consumers are causes which have plaj^ed a part 

 in producing this improvement. 



The commercial grading of evaporated apples is based primarily 

 on appearance rather than on dessert quality, and the fact that one 

 variety may make a better flavored product than another is not 

 considered. As a rule, a product of high commercial grade can be 

 made from anv sort which has a firm texture and bleaches to a 



