46 BULLETIN 1141, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



by exposure to the sun. The cost of handling may be more under 

 California methods, but probably the difference is not great. As a 

 fuel cost, roughly estimated, about 1 cord of wood or a ton of hard 

 coal is required to produce a ton of dried fruit. 



Whether in an earlier day the varieties available for drying con- 

 stituted a factor favorable to some regions and adverse to others 

 is unimportant now. The variety factor is fundamental at the 

 present time. In California, the Muir and Lovell are planted on an 

 extensive scale expressly for drying. These ripen in good sequence 

 with each other and are yellow freestones with rather dry, fine- 

 grained, firm flesh, characteristics which are essential in a good 

 drying peach. 



In the earlier day when peaches were being evaporated in the 

 East, such sorts as Early Crawford, Foster, Oldmixon Free, Moore, 

 Late Crawford, Stump, and others were used. It is obvious that the 

 dried product as a whole would lack the uniformity that is now de- 

 manded by the trade. However, within the past 25 years the El- 

 bert a has come very largely to the fore in all humid peach-growing 

 regions. So important is it, relatively, that in many of the peach- 

 growing centers it is the only variety shipped in relatively large 

 quantities for use in the fresh state. 



While the Elberta is dried to a very limited extent in California, 

 the quantity handled in this way is negligible compared with the 

 Muir and Lovell. The Elberta has some characteristics of a good 

 drying peach, but it may be questioned whether the dried fruit would 

 be of sufficiently high grade and attractive enough in appearance to 

 compete successfully with the dried fruit from the Pacific coast 

 when placed on the market in large quantities. It follows, in view 

 of tKe very extensive production of the Elberta in most peach-grow- 

 ing centers in the humid regions, in comparison with other sorts, 

 that the great bulk of the fruit available for drying in those regions 

 is of the Elberta variety. Under normal conditions the annual aver- 

 age of 30,000 tons, more or less, of dried peaches from California 

 supplies the market demand. It appears evident that should a large 

 quantity of Elbertas from other sections be dried, new demands or 

 new markets for the product would have to be developed if the 

 growers who dry their fruit are to profit thereby. 



DETAILS OF DRYING. 



The kiln type of evaporator, which as previously noted is largely 

 used in drying apples, is not suited to peaches, the characteristics of 

 the fruit being such that it can not be handled well in the large 

 bulk that is necessary to make the use of a kiln economical. Any of 

 the cabinet or tunnel types where the fruit is spread in a thin layer 

 on trays may be used in evaporating peaches. 



The fruit to be evaporated should be of a uniform degree of ma- 

 turity and fully ripe, otherwise the finished product will lack uni- 

 formity. Immature fruit does not make a good dried product. 

 Moreover, the rate of drying is governed in part by the size of the 

 pieces; hence it is an advantage if the fruit that is placed on any 

 one tray is fairly uniform in size. For this reason all fruit should 

 be passed over a sizer adjusted to separate it into three or four sizes. 



