62 



Fruit Preservation. 



in Kent that the fruit grower should not attempt jam-making 

 as an adjunct to his own business." 



From a number of inquiries he has ma.de into the possi- 

 bility of drying fruit on a large scale, Mr. Hall concludes that 

 this industry would not be remunerative in ordinary seasons. 

 Most of the evaporators exhibited in this country, though 

 capable of doing good work, are, he thinks, constructed on 

 too small a scale to be of any use to the market fruit 

 grower, but there would be little difficulty in adapting an 

 ordinary hop oast to the work if the process were really 

 remunerative. In connection with this point reference 

 is made in his report to an experiment with a fruit 

 evaporator, which was carried out by the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society in their Chiswick Garden during the fruit 

 season of 1891. This experiment was chiefly concerned with 

 apples and plums, the only fruits grown on a large scale in 

 this country that are suitable for drying. As regards apples, 

 no difficulty w T as found in turning out a satisfactory product, 

 particularly with certain kinds, but it was found that 

 the finished article did not pay for the labour and fuel 

 required. This, being an experiment on a not very large 

 scale, was heavily weighted with such charges, but a con- 

 sideration of the price alone of the finished article is held to 

 show that profit is unlikely. The price of dried whole apples 

 Normandy Pippins) is from 6d. to 8d. per lb., the latter being 

 the retail price, the former in half-cwts.; while for apple rings 

 the price is from 4|-d. to 6d. per lb. It appears, however, to 

 take from five to nine pounds of fresh apples to make one 

 pound of dried apples, and, moreover, it seems that only well- 

 shaped large fruit can be used without a great loss in the 

 peeling and coring machine, and that only late-keeping dense 

 kinds are really suitable for drying whole. As regards 

 plums, there is, in Mr. Hall's view, plenty of evidence from 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's experiments that the 

 ordinary English market plum does not dry satisfactorily, 

 being too thin-skinned and juicy. In California, where 

 the industry has made great strides of late years, the Prune 

 d'ente, the Fellenberg, and other varieties specially adapted 

 for drying are cultivated, and, though some plums proper are 



