75^ 



Drying or Evaporating Fruit. 



[march, 



give the walls, fixtures and floor a good dressing with a solution 

 of commercial carbolic acid, and finally to apply a dressing of 

 hot lime. Soil should be got from a fresh locality, and care 

 should be taken that it has not been covered by vegetation for 

 some time ; but if it is obligatory to use turf-covered soil it 

 would be well to heat it (not burn it), or spread it out into a 

 thin layer and pour boiling water over it. A method of steriliz- 

 ing soil is mentioned in this Journal, Sept., 1905, p. 357. 



The advantages of fruit drying, fruit pulping, &c, as means 

 of preserving surplus fruit, have been at different times urged 

 on the British fruit-grower, and recently 



Drying- OP the Council of the Royal Horticultural 



to Germany to study the methods of fruit preserving there, and 

 to see how far the German methods might be applicable to 

 English conditions. Mr. Sedgwick's interesting report t deals 

 with several forms of fruit preserving, such as drying, bottling, 

 &c, in Germany, and also in the United States. 



With regard to fruit drying or evaporating, he remarks that 

 although the preservation of fruit by the removal of its watery 

 contents has long been practised in Germany, modern methods 

 of fruit drying were first introduced from America some twenty- 

 five years ago. By the newer methods only so much water is 

 removed from the fruit by drying as is absolutely necessary to 

 its keeping, thus producing good flavour, while a larger pro- 

 portion of dried to fresh product is obtained. The machine 

 commonly used for this purpose in large factories was invented 

 by Dr. Ryder, an American, but is now manufactured and 

 largely used in Germany. It consists of a self-contained stove 

 from which heated air passes through a long barrel-like con- 

 tainer in which are placed a series of trays, the sides of which 

 are of wood and the bottoms of galvanised wire. As the trays 

 are filled with the prepared fruit they are inserted in the racks 



* For previous articles on fruit preservation, see Journal, Vol. II., p. 257, Dec., 

 1895; Vol. VIII., p. 61, June, 1901 ; Vol. XL, p. 621, Jan., 1905; Vol. XII., 

 p. 112, May, 1905. 



t Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. XXIX., part 4. 



Evaporating 

 Fruit.* 



Society commissioned their assistant secre- 

 tary, Mr. Thomas E. Sedgwick, to proceed 



