372 .TOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the same time crack the skin of the fruit, so that evaporation may take 
place more rapidly. In its natural state the skin of the Prune is almost 
impervious, and unless dipped the fruit would need weeks, if not months, 
to dry. The usual strength of the dip is about 1 lb. of pure concentrated 
" lye " to ten gallons of water. The exact proportion, however, must be 
left to the judgment of the operator. The "lye" must be sufficiently , 
strong to crack the skin of the Prune, and must be kept boiling hot during 
the operation ; i.e. not allowed to cool by the immersion of the fruit. 
The length of time required for immersion also varies according to the 
soil upon which the fruit has been grown and the age of the orchard, 
fruit from old orchards and from heavy land being tougher than that 
from young orchards and from lighter soils. The average time required 
is about thirty seconds, but the fruit must be withdrawn as soon as the 
skin shows minute cracks on its surface. If left too long the sugar will 
ooze through the cracks in drying, rendering the fruit sticky and disagree- 
able to handle, and causing it to lose many of its best qualities. If it 
be removed too soon, it will not dry well. 
After their removal from the lye-bath the scalded Prunes are plunged 
into clean fresh water, which rinses off all the lye that may have adhered 
to them. The water must be frequently changed to prevent its becoming 
impregnated with lye. For dipping, the fruit is put into wire baskets, or 
galvanised pails with perforated sides and bottoms. In the Buxton 
Orchard at Campbell, in Santa Clara County, a very ingenious device is 
used which does the work automatically. The Prunes are taken direct from 
the orchard and unloaded into a bin, which is then raised by an 
elevator up to the grader, which removes all twigs, leaves, and rubbish, 
and assorts the fruit into two sizes. These two sets of fresh Prunes each 
fall on to an endless apron provided with carrying slats, and are carried 
through the lye-baths, which are kept at boiling point by steam pipes, a 
separate bath being provided for each sized fruit. The apron continues 
from the lye-bath into the rinsing bath, which is kept fresh by a continu- 
ous stream of water flowing through it. From the rinsing bath the fruit 
is passed on to the trays. 
Drying is done wholly by the sun. A number of experiments with 
evaporators have been made, but the machines were found quite inade- 
quate for the purpose. Sunshine is so far superior that artificial methods 
have fallen into disuse. After the fruit comes from its second or fresh- 
water dip it is laid out evenly on wooden trays of convenient size, 
usually about 2 ft. x 7 ft. These trays are placed on the drying ground 
— a spot which has been carefully selected with a view to its full ex- 
posure to the sun. The drying season extends from the middle of August 
to the beginning of November. The length of time required for the 
complete drying of the fruit varies from a week to a month according to 
the weather and heat, the dryness or humidity of the atmosphere. In 
hot dry weather the fruit requires a shorter exposure than when it is 
cloudy and moist. It must be sufficiently dried to warrant its keeping 
under all conditions, but not so dry as to rattle. When sufficiently dried 
the fruit is taken to the processing house, where it is put into tins to 
" sweat." This operation takes two or three weeks, during which time 
the fruit must be carefully turned over several times with a shovel and 
