832 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FKUIT DRYING AND EVAPORATING. 



In August 1890 a most valuable lecture was delivered before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society by Mr. E. W. Badger on " American Fruit Eva- 

 porators," which will be found at page 532 of vol. xii. of our Journal. 

 In it he describes various different patterns of evaporators, and also gives 

 from Dr. Symons, of Arkansas, the points to be obtained by evaporation. 

 Mr. Badger also touches, but somewhat briefly, the crucial question. Will 

 it yield a commercial profit in this country, as it undoubtedly does in 

 America ? 



One result of this lecture, which excited the greatest interest all over 

 the country, was that an evaporator was presented to the Society by 

 Messrs. Mavfarth, which was worked for two or three seasons at Chismck, 

 and when the produce was shown at one of the autumn meetings in 1892 

 it was considered to be of such excellent quality that a Silver-gilt Medal 

 was awarded to Messrs. Mayfarth as an expression of the great satisfac- 

 tion felt in the results their machine had achie^■ed. Mr. A. F. Barron, in 

 his report to the Fruit Committee, said that Apples required a tempera- 

 ture of 175 degs. to 200 degs., maintained for three hours ; and Plums 

 250 degs., for from eight to ten hours ; and it was found that the thicker 

 the skin of the Plum the more satisfactory was the dried produce, varieties 

 with thin and delicate skins often bursting and becoming messy. 



Roughly speaking it was found that one bushel of Apples produced 

 6^ lb. of dried rings, and that 1 lb. of coal is expended for every 1 lb. of 

 dried fruit. 



Of more recent information, we may quote Mr. James Harper, of 

 Stroud, who tells us in the Gardeners' Chronicle for September 21, 1901, 

 that he can buy any quantity of the finest Plums at 5.S'. Q>d. a cwt. The 

 Plums lose about three-quarters of their weight in drying, and therefore 

 would cost him when dried at the rate of 2\d. a lb., or 22s. a cwt. He 

 reckons the cost of drying at Id. a lb., so that the total cost to the 

 producer would be ^\d. a lb. 



If these figures are only approximately correct, it is evident that 

 Plums can be profitably dried in this country for the producer's own con- 

 sumption at least. Whether they could be profitably put into commerce 

 is another question, as this involves packing, transit, and retailers' profits 

 before the producer's profit comes into view. But putting the initial cost 

 of the fruit and its drying at 4:d. a lb., and allowing Id. for packing and 

 transit, and another Id. (too little we fear) for retailers' profits, experience 

 only could prove whether the produce would sell freely at a price so much 

 higher than the Qd. a lb. thus arrrived at as to provide an encouraging 

 profit to the producer. 



Speaking at a meeting at Paignton quite recently, Mr. Harper said 

 that when Plums were so ripe as to be no longer fit to travel they might 

 be put into the evaporator, filling the trays from the top, where there is 

 the least heat, and bringing them gradually down to the bottom, where 



