406 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



February, 191 4 



Drying Plums and Prunes. 



— Gatherino- the Fruit. — 



Fruit for drying must be tho- 

 roughly ripe, or ahivast over-ripe, 

 as the sweeter they are the better 

 they dry. 



— Grading the Fruit. — 



After gathering the fruit should 

 be graded, so that all may be of 

 an e%en size and degree of ripe- 

 ness. There are machines for do- 

 ing this. 



— Dippiiig- — 

 To ensure tquick drying and make 

 the skins tender the plums are 

 dipped in a hot solutioa of lye. 

 Procure Greenbank's 98 per cent, 

 potash Ive, or, failing that, soda 

 will do. Various workers use dif- 

 ferent strengths of lye. Some ad- 

 vise T lb. lye to 10 gallons of 

 water, and some 2 11). to lo gal- 

 lons. This lye bath is made in a 

 boiler or tank over a lire and kept 

 at the boiling point. A 200 or a 

 4<X) gallon tank will make a cop- 



« Insurance . . 

 . . Company, 



TO STOCK OWNKUS. 

 Tlii« well-known COLONIAL OFFICK 



is now isiuing. 



LIVE STOCK POLICIES. 



with molt lenient conditions, special- 

 ly prepared to meet local reciuirementi 

 covering 



UKATH FEOM FIRE, NATURAL 

 CAUSES, AND ACCIUENT. 



I)er. Cut the tank in halves and 

 mount one on a low Hue of brick 

 or' stone and the other alongside, 

 but without a Hue. Put the lye 

 bath in one and clear water in the 

 other. Krect a post at one side, 

 a few feet away from where the 

 two join, and on it suspend pole 

 by the middle, such as is used for 

 drawing water from shallow 

 wells. 



Make a tray of stout wood, with 

 a bottom of /2 m. galvanized wire, 

 and suspend at by stout wires 

 irom each corner. Hang this on 

 to one end of the suspended pole, 

 and weight the other end with one 

 or two kerosene tins of stones. 

 The tray is tlien filled with [dums, 

 and is lifted by tne pole and 

 dipped into the lye bath for, say, 

 30 seconds. It is then lifted and 

 allowed .to drain for a minute, 

 and is then dipped into the oleaii 

 water and rinsed. Alter draining 

 a little the prunes are ready to be 

 spread on the trays. U there are 

 many to do, two dipping-trays are 

 ad\isable, one to be usea while the 

 other is being emptied. 



— Trays. — 



The usual 3x2 tray is ■Jiiade of 

 three pieces of 8-in. spruce, /4-i6th 

 in. thick, fastened together with a 

 cleat at each end 2 in. by 1 in. 

 When the trays are stacked one 

 upon the top of another this con- 

 struction allows ol a space of 2 in. 

 between each lor a current of air 

 to pass through. The Globe Tim- 

 Ijer IMills Compau}- will quote for 

 these trays. 



— Drying. — 



After being spread on the trays 

 they are placed in the sun or m 

 the evaporator to dry. If an eva- 

 porator is used, trays with bot- 

 toms of /g or '4 in. wo\'en wire are 

 used. The amount of dried fruit 

 Irom l(;o lb. of fresh will depend 

 on the condition of the fruit, and 

 the method of drying or evaporat- 

 ing, and may vary from 30 ll)s. to 

 as high as 45 lb. 



Some Phases of Pollination. 



— Results with Sacked Blossoms. — 

 The question of the potency of 

 pollen as a factor in the fertiliza- 

 tion of the blossoms of fruits is 

 comparatively new. Some years 

 ago the writer tested the pollen 

 of various varieties of grapes that 

 seemed to show that the viability 

 of the pollen was the chief if not 

 the only factor which determined 

 whether a given variety was self, 

 fertile or self-sterile. This natur- 

 allv suggested the query as to 

 wh-ether the same conditions did 

 not possibly exist among other 

 of our cultivated fruits. In ap- 

 ples, in particular, as the most 

 important of our fruits, an inves- 

 tigation was started with a view 

 to determining the self-fertilizing 

 capacity of the various varieties. 

 This work has been continued now 

 for about four years in a very 

 desultory way, owing to inter- 

 ruptions caused by the intervention 

 of other work, change of location, 

 etc. 



One of the first, and almost in- 

 dispensable things in an investiga- 

 tion of this kind, is a complete and 

 accurate list of the self-lertUe and 

 self^sterile sorts. Unfortunately, 

 there are no such lists which are 

 generally accepted. Many investi- 

 gators question the accuracy of 

 the results secured by sacking the 

 blossoms of such fruits as apples 

 and pears, basing their skepticism 

 on the fact that many varieties 

 which fail to set fruit in sacks do 

 not fail to give satisfactory crops 

 when planted under conditions 

 where access of pollen from other 

 varieties would be improbable, if 

 not impossible. Several experi- 

 menters, to my knowledge, have 

 sacked large niimbers of blossoms 

 for several years in succession with 

 such contradictory results that 

 ehey were never published. Gener- 

 ally the results of such experi- 

 ments prove altogether too much. 

 Varieties of apples which are re- 

 cognized to be .self-fertile will fre- 

 quentlv set no fruit at all under 

 sacks,' and will almost invariably 

 set much Jess than when exposed 

 to the visiting insects ; . and^this is 

 true e\ cn when the trees are stand- 

 ing in solid blocl<s of one variety 

 so that cross pollination of the 

 outside blossoms is very improb- 

 able. 



—Confusing Results With Apples.— 

 In some experinvents carried on 

 by Ivowe and Parrott, and kindlv 

 loaned me bv Mr. Parrott for this 

 occasion, a "small Ben Davis tree 

 was completely covered with mus- 



Foaling Risks a Specialty. 



FOR RATES AHl) PARTICULARS 



APPLY TO THE LOCAL AGENT. 

 (N.B.— The well-known ' Maori Head ' 

 A^ncy plate is to be seen in all th« 

 chief centres), or THE MANAGER. 

 112 KING WILLIAM ST.. ADELAIDE. 

 Claims paid exceed £7,500,000. 



Deijartmemts — FIRE, MARINE, 

 ACCIDENT, EMPLOYERS' INDEM 

 NITY, PLATBGLA88, FIDEUTY 

 GUARANTEE, ADMLNISTUATION 



BOKU8 BUmaUMY. UVa STOCK. 



— Sweating. — 



After the plums are so dry that 

 they will not exude pulp when 

 jiressed they are packed into boxes 

 and stacked to equalise the mois- 

 ture or " sweat," and are then 

 ready for packing for sale. Some, 

 however, after sweating, dip the 

 prunes for a few seconds into a 

 boiling bath of clear water in 

 which is dissolved a little glycer- 

 ine or sugar. This rinses the 

 fruit, destroys any insects, and 

 gives them a gloss and softness. 

 After this final dip, the fruit 

 should hv (|uickly dried and 

 ] lacked. 



