EVAPORATION OF FRUITS. 23 



fumes. This method was laborious; a longer time elapsed and as a 

 result considerable discoloration occurred after paring and slicing 

 'and before exposure to the fumes, while it was difficult or impossible 

 to secure uniform penetration of the fumes into the compact layers 

 of slices. In consequence, all modern evaporators employ power- 

 driven bleachers of the type here described. 



A power bleacher is essentially a long, tightly constructed wooden 

 box, 2 to 3 feet in width, 3 feet in height, and of a length proportional 

 to the size of the plant, 5 feet of length being commonly provided for 

 each 100 bushels of apples to be handled in an 8-hour or 9-hour work- 

 ing day, so that a plant of 600 bushels maximum daily capacity will 

 require a 30-foot bleacher. Operators usually purchase the metal 

 parts only from supply houses, which can furnish them for bleachers 

 of any desired capacity, and build the box and wooden parts at the 

 plant. The bleacher is suspended by hangers from the ceiling of the 

 second-floor workroom, near the walls of the kilns, and high enough 

 to be out of the way of workmen. Pared and trimmed apples are 

 brought up by the elevator from the paring table and delivered into a 

 hopper at one end of the bleacher, from which they drop to an endless 

 belt conveyor, made of two lengths of link chain carrying hardwood 

 slats, which occupies the bottom of the box and extends through its 

 length, moving over a series of steel rollers placed 12 to 18 inches 

 apart, to distribute the load and prevent sagging. By means of a 

 worm gear this belt is made to move very slowly, so that 30 to 40 

 minutes are required for fruit to pass through the bleacher. The 

 bleached fruit drops through a short chute directly into the hopper 

 of the slicer, which is placed beneath the outlet end of the bleacher. 

 Sulphur is burned in a heavy iron pan placed in a chamber provided 

 for it at the apple-inlet end, or less commonly in a special sulphur 

 stove placed on a wall bracket or suspended beneath the bleacher, the 

 sulphur fumes being led into the bleacher by a short length of terra- 

 cotta or heavy cast-iron pipe. Provision is made for their escape at 

 the opposite end of the bleacher by a flue of terra-cotta pipe heavily 

 cemented at the joints and extending well above the roof. The apple 

 inlet and outlet are provided with curtains of heavy canvas, weighted 

 to keep them in place and prevent the escape of the intensely irritating 

 fumes into the room. For the same reason the box is built of well- 

 seasoned matched lumber and all cracks are carefully filled with white 

 lead, as are the joints about the pipe connections. The top of the 

 bleacher is provided with hinged doors near either end to permit 

 access to the interior, and these should be made to fit tightly. Figure 

 10 gives a clear idea of the construction of the bleacher, portions of 

 the side wall and end being represented as cut away in order to show 

 the interior construction. 



The slicer.— Several power slicers, differing rather widely in con- 

 struction, but alike in that they are durable and do satisfactory work, 

 are on the market. The essential features are that the machine be 

 strongly constructed, that it will not readily get out of order, that it 

 has a daily capacity equal to or greater than the expected maximum 

 demand upon it, and that it be capable of delivering a high per- 

 centage of perfect rings when operating at full capacity. 



The slicer should be placed at the outlet end of the bleacher, so 

 that the sulphured apples may drop directly into it. Both bleacher 



