ELIMINATION OF LARVvE IN " KHANS. 59 
fatal to larvae before it can be stated exactly how long fiirs mu.-t be 
boiled to kill the larva 4 inside of them. 
Many packers complain that figs which have been boiled in hot 
water soiir in a few weeks. If this he true, it is because the figs are 
boiled too long, i. e., longer than is necessary to kill the insects. 
Figs scalded by the writer in early September had up to December 
20 shown no indication of souring. 
The experiments that were made to determine the exact effect upon 
figs of boiling them to kill insect larvae were performed in one of the 
larger " khans " in Smyrna. Two 5-pound boxes of layer figs, one of 
"4-crown" and one of " 7-crown," and another box of "Locoum" 
figs were boiled and packed in the presence of the writer. Three 
identical boxes of figs that were not boiled were also packed the same 
da}' for use in " checking " the experiment, and all were shipped to 
Washington, D. C, for later observation and comparison. The figs 
were scalded in a 2.5 per cent salt solution at a temperature of exactly 
100° C. (212° F.) (taken by a high-temperature thermometer) for 10 
seconds, then drained and put into a screen-bottomed drying tray and 
immediately carried into the packing room. When first taken from 
the hot water they had apparently absorbed a small amount, making 
the skin semitranslucent. Packing began exactly 5 minutes after the 
scalding. By this time all excess moisture on the outside had evap- 
orated except that held in the cracks and folds of the skin. Ten min- 
utes later the remaining moisture had also evaporated. At this stage 
the figs differed from those not scalded in that the skin was quite 
translucent, as though retaining a small amount of moisture, and in 
being rather less sticky and far softer and more flexible, and easier to 
pack into layers. 
When the boxes of scalded figs were opened up the following 
January and February in Washington they were in prime condi- 
tion and noticeably free from attack of larvae. The only objections 
to them were their stickiness and a very slight flavor of acidity 
noticeable in some figs. In spite of these objections they were cleaner 
and much preferable to the figs not boiled. 
Some packers contend that boiled figs are darker in color and. 
therefore, less desirable; but so long as the tigs are not injured in 
quality by the boiling, it is reasonable to believe that their freedom 
from " worms " will more than compensate the loss in color. Almost 
all packers boil the figs intended for their own consumption, hut 
strangely can not afford to boil those intended [or sale, or find reasons 
not to do so. 
APPARATUS FOR STEBUJHNG WITH HOT AIK. 
Dry heat has proved to have advantages over the hot-water method. 
The time wasted in the subsequent drying of the figs is eliminated. 
