EVAPORATION OF FRUITS. 3 



bined production being somewhat less than that of California. In 

 so far as available figures enable a conclusion to be reached, it would 

 appear that the evaporated-apple industry is growing in importance 

 in the States of the Pacific Northwest, less rapidly in Arkansas and 

 the Virginias, little if at all in New York, and is decreasing in quan- 

 tity of output in the other producing States. 



As a commercial practice sun drying no longer exists outside 

 of California, but has there attained the rank of a primary industry, 

 practically all the fruit used for the purpose being grown spe- 

 cifically for drying and without intention to offer it for sale in the 

 fresh condition. As a consequence, varieties specially suited to 

 drying purposes have been developed or selected and are planted to 

 the exclusion of others. While a portion of the prune crop of the 

 Pacific Northwest is sold fresh or evaporated according as market 

 conditions may determine, by far the greater portion is grown spe- 

 cifically for drying, individual growers or groups of growers con- 

 structing such drying equipment as their acreage may require. 

 With this exception evaporation is at the present time distinctly an 

 industry developed by fruit growers as an adjunct to their chief 

 business of producing fruit for market, and its relation to that busi- 

 ness is that of a stabilizer or safety valve. In direct proportion as 

 it has been developed in any given territory it serves to increase 

 orchard returns by converting low-grade and unmarketable por- 

 tions of the crop into salable products and to maintain fresh- fruit 

 prices by absorbing a portion of the marketable grades in years of 

 overproduction. As a consequence of this safety-valve relation to 

 the fresh-fruit industry, the material coming into the evaporators 

 has not been grown with reference to its special fitness for drying 

 purposes, but varies widely from year to year in character and 

 quality as well as in total volume. For these reasons the drying 

 industry, unlike that of canning, in only a few exceptional cases 

 has been engaged in by large commercial concerns making it their 

 sole business and having definite acreages of material of specified 

 varieties grown under contract for the purpose. The product of 

 such plants constitutes only a very small percentage of the total 

 output. The drying of fruits as practiced at the present time is 

 therefore peculiarly a farm industry, carried on by fruit growers 

 themselves as a part of the routine of harvesting and disposing of 

 the crop. The plants in which the work is done are mainly small, 

 their size being most frequently determined by the size of the 

 owner's orchard, and there is great diversity in the drying appa- 

 ratus, the accessory equipment, and the details of the drying meth- 

 ods employed, with a consequent absence of definite standardization 

 of the product. This would be expected in view of the fact that 

 252,289 farms reported the production of dried fuits in the census 

 of 1919. 



It is the purpose of this bulletin to describe in detail the types of 

 artificially heated evaporators found by the test of actual use to be 

 best suited to specific purposes, to describe model installations of 

 labor-saving machinery, and to give somewhat full discussion of im- 

 proved methods of handling the various fruits in preparation for 

 drying as well as during the drying process. The drying installa- 

 tions described are of the most modern character, but are of such 

 moderate size and cost as to be suited to the means and needs of the 



