260 



EVAPORATION OF FRUIT. 



[Dec. 1895. 



It is curious to note that the importation from the United States 

 has increased from 1,860,968 lbs. to 6,255,046 lbs., and that from 

 Italy from 15,169,856 lbs. to 26,509,873 lbs. The great increase 

 in the case of the United States is due to the extension, particu- 

 larly in California, of the practice of evaporating or desiccating 

 apples, plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots by means of solar 

 or artificial heat. 



Besides the fruits preserved with and without sugar imported 

 into Great Britain, as shown in the tables given above, there are 

 importations of dried, o^ preserved, fruits from France, Germany, 

 Austria, and the United States of America, chiefly consisting of 

 prunes and plums dried and preserved, sent in bottles, boxes, 

 and fancy packages, on which a duty of 7s. per cwt. is charged. 

 These as entered for home consumption amounted to 44,491 cwt. 

 in 1885, and had increased in 1894 to 73,134 cwts. The 

 greater part of this increase was due to larger imports from 

 France. 



The total quantity of preserved and dried fruit of all kinds 

 imported into Great Britain in 1894, was 852,720 cwts., valued 

 at 647,768^., as against 492,428 cwts., valued at 506,986^., in 

 1885. 



This does not include figs, currants, and raisins, but does 

 include the fruit that would compete with that grown in Great 

 Britain, such as apples, plums, and damsons, and it is considered 

 that these constituted a large proportion of the 852,410 cwts. 



As noticed above, the importation of " rings," " chips," and 

 " quarters " of apple, with which may be included other forms of 

 dried or desiccated apples, comparatively modern inventions, is 

 increasing considerably, and those in touch with the United States 

 know that every efibrt is being made there to extend this business 

 as well as that in dried plums, peaches, and apricots. In the 

 Australian Colonies, much attention is being paid to fruit pre- 

 servation of this character, and in France, Germany, Spain, 

 Portugal, and Italy, improved processes have been adopted in 

 recent years to prepare and preserve fruit without sugar for 

 the English markets. 



An effort should be made by British fruit-growers to obtain 

 part of this trade for themselves. Attention has been called 

 to its advantages, first by Mr. D. Pidgeon in the Journal of the 

 Koyal Agricultural Society of England, published in October 

 1888, in which it is said : — "A bushel of green apples weighing 

 about 50 lbs. can be dried at a cost of from 6c?. to 7d. The total 

 cost of the dried product is from Sd. to 5d. per lb., and the 

 average selling price from 3^d. to 6d. per lb. One bushel of 

 green apples produces about 6 lbs. of dried apples. One lb. of 

 coal is consumed in evaporating enough green fruit to yield 

 1 lb. of dried fruit." Mr. Pidgeon gives descriptions of drying 

 or evaporating machines. 



Mr. Badger, F.R.H.S., brought the subject of American fruit 

 evaporators before the Royal Horticultural Society in 1890, and 

 again in 1892, and stated, in a paper read before the Society, that 



