FRUIT DRYINa AND EVAPORATING. 



835 



supplied by Messrs. Lumley & Co., The Minories, London, E.G. Twenty 

 trays were supplied with it, and the catalogue price is £11. lOs., plus an 

 advance of 10 per cent. 



This Evaporator is, in my opinion, too small for commercial purposes, 

 because it requires as much attention — and in respect to the regulation of 

 temperature more care — as one with three or four times its capacity. It 

 is also very wasteful with fuel ; because the Evaporator consists of only 

 one short flue or air-chamber, through which the hot air rushes imme- 

 diately into the atmosphere and is lost. For these two reasons the cost 

 of labour and fuel is unnecessarily great, and the cost of the dried 

 article much higher than it would be with an Evaporator of larger 

 capacity. 



In conducting the experiments I sought to ascertain : (1) the best 

 varieties for drying for commercial purposes ; (2) the average time re- 

 quired to dry the respective varieties at known average temperatures ; 



(3) the average loss in weight between the undried and the dried article ; 



(4) the average consumption of fuel during twenty-four hours of con- 

 tinuous work ; and (5) the capacity of the Evaporator in drying a given 

 quantity of Damsons in the shortest space of time. 



Plums. 



The varieties of Plums tested were : Bittern, Czar, Curlew, Cox's 

 Emperor, Diamond, July Greengage, Monarch, Pershore, Prince Engel- 

 bert. Red Magnum Bonum, Victoria, White Perdrigon ; and of Damsons, 

 Farleigh Prolific and the Shropshire Damson. 



Of the twelve varieties of Plums dried, the following gave the best 

 results in regard to the tueight of the dried product : — 



Czar .... gave 33 per cent, of dried fruit. 



White Perdrigon . „ 27 „ „ „ „ „ 



Victoria . . . „ 25 „ „ „ „ „ 



Monarch . . . „ 25 „ „ ,, „ ,, 



Prince Engelbert . „ 25 „ „ „ „ 



Red Magnum Bonum ,, 22 „ „ „ ,, ,, 



Cox's Emperor . . „ 20 „ „ „ „ „ 



July Greengage. . „ 20 „ „ „ „ 



Pershore . . . „ 19 „ „ „ „ 



The best varieties in apioearance are Monarch, Prince Engelbert, 

 Czar, Victoria, and White Perdrigon, in the order named. These are 

 followed by Red Magnum Bonum, Cox's Emperor, and Pershore. 



The average time and temperature required by the better varieties to 

 dry were as follows : — 



Monarch . 



200- 



-230° F. 



15 



hours. 



Prince Engelbert 



160- 



-200 



14 



jj 



Czar ... 



180- 



-210 



12 



>> 



White Perdrigon 



190- 



-220 



16 



j> 



Victoria 







18 



j> 



Red Magnum Bonum 



180- 



-200 



12 



»> 



Cox's Emperor . 



220- 



-240 



16 



j> 



Pershore . 



160- 



-220 



16 



)> 



p 2 



I 



