November 24, 1892. ] 
•JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
453 
M R. IGGULDEN did well last week to direct attention to the 
great demand for stewed Pears, and to the enormous 
importations of them in the form of canned fruit from abroad 
to meet the requirements of our population at home. From the 
circumstances of the case he draws sensible deductions. He is 
not satisfied that fruit growers in this country should rest content 
in allowing other lands to enjoy the monopoly of supplying our 
mai’kets with preserved Pears that are no better when gathered 
than the produce of British gardens. He would like to see his 
countrymen not only share in the trade, but excel in it ; and he 
foresees that if the best methods of preserving Pears are ascer¬ 
tained and adopted, and clear glass bottles are employed for 
storing, instead of the less wholesome cans, that a new industry 
may be established. Given fruit of equal value packed in tins 
with a picture on them, and the contents of necessity hidden, on 
the one hand ; and in clear glass bottles with the produce visible 
on the other, there is little doubt which the public would choose. 
The great majority would, unquestionably, prefer the latter. 
Home-grown fruit, such as Plums, Gooseberries, and other soft 
kinds preserved and sold in bottles, is far superior to any im¬ 
ported in cans, sells more freely and at higher prices, while there 
is a growing export trade. If this is so, as it is in respect to 
these fruits, it is difficult to see why the practice cannot be 
extended to Pears. Bottled produce, if of the first quality, and 
not higher in price than imported canned goods, as it ought not 
to be, would not be long in commanding the market, and our 
correspondent’s hope for a “ new industry ” would be realised. 
We now turn to what may be described as an “ old industry,” 
in the drying of fruit. That Apples and Plums can he dried by 
the process of evaporation as well in this kingdom as any other 
has been demonstrated at Chiswick this year. The Apple rings 
and chips dried there by the Mayfarth apparatus were equal to 
any that could be purchased in shops, from wheresoever they 
came. Yet of the hundreds of thousands of lbs. sold in London 
and other centres of population it would be difficult to find even 
1 lb. of home-grown and home-dried fruit. Some of the Plums 
dried at Chiswick have also been as good as the most fastidious 
could desire after the fruit has been duly soaked and prepared for 
table. The cost of the drying at Chiswick and the value of the 
produce show also that the work is profitable. Five bushels of 
fresh Apples can be pared, cored, sliced, and dried in a day by one 
man, the expenditure on fuel only amounting to 9d. On a large 
scale in America the cost of drying a bushel of fruit is 6d. to 7d., 
the dried produce selling for 2s., a little more or less according to 
quality. At Chiswick Apples are dried in three hours in a tempera¬ 
ture of 150° to 200°; Plums in seven to eight hours, temperature 
200° to 225°. For preparing for use the dried fruit requires to be 
soaked about the same time as is needed for drying. Nothing 
but water is driven out, all the constituents of the fruit beyond 
that being retained ; and when the water is absorbed by soaking, 
the fruit is nearly the same in bulk as if the fruit were fresh when 
cooked and quite as good in quality. 
As indicating the extent of fruit drying in America we cite 
from Mr. Pi idgeon’s report in the Journal of the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society. In one year 31,450,000 lbs. of fruit were dried in 
California, value £431,590. Much of this bulk would be Plums 
No. 648 —Vol. XXV., Third Series. 
converted into prunes, vast quantities of which are sun-dried. In 
the same year (1888) 37,750,000 lbs. of fruit were dried in 
evaporators in the State of New York, all but 750,000 being Apples, 
value of produce £297,000, or. a total of 69,200,000 lbs. of fruit in 
two States in one year of the value of £728,590. Most of this 
fruit is sent to Europe. In Germany and France a great deal of 
fruit is dried, especially Plums, but practically none in England. 
It may be urged, however, that the fruit-drying referred to 
cannot be regarded as an “old industry.” It cannot so far as 
regards the work in America. It is there modern—nineteenth 
century work, in which trade enterprise and business acumen are 
displayed in a remarkable manner ; but on the European conti¬ 
nent the drying of Plums is an ancient art, still in progress, and 
was once commonly practised in England. In the former countries 
both as a commercial undertaking and a domestic duty ; in our 
counties in a domestic manner exclusively. It is therefore an old 
industry fallen into disuetude with us, and might with advantage 
to many families be revived. Mr. Philip Crowley, Treasurer to 
the Royal Horticultural Society and Chairman of the Fruit 
Committee, has shown the way—a cheap way too, as he dries his 
Plums—makes his prunes—at a cost of nothing for fuel, and the 
most “ enterprising ” of our friends across the sea cannot easily 
beat that for economy. 
Mr. Crowley placed some of his Plums on the table of the 
Fruit Committee at Westminster last week, the variety being 
Rivers’ Prolific. Though of excellent quality this Plum is too 
small for drying ; or in other words, there was too little flesh 
and too much stone ; but fruits of Rivers’ Monarch dried in 
the oven and tested at Mr. Crowley’s table were in every respect 
as good as could be desired, and quite equal to the best French 
cooking prunes. The following is Mr. Crowley’s description of his 
experiments :— 
“ Ever since I saw Plums dried at Chiswick I have tried some 
at home. Last year I laid them on cardboard in the usual iron 
oven tray, but then they were too caramelised and tasted burnt. 
This year I made rsome wooden frames to fit the oven and formed 
trays of galvanised iron wire half-inch netting, and on this 
laid the Plums. This allowed the air to circulate freely between 
and under the fruit. When the cooking for the day was done 
and the oven was a reasonable heat these trays were put in and the 
door left a little open to help the current of air to pass through, 
and the fruit left there until the oven became too hot tbe following 
morning. This was repeated three or four nights, with the result 
of having good dried Plums at no expense and no bother. Anyone 
with a surplus of Plums and a kitchen oven may do the same. 
We found one lot was not sufficiently dried and began to mould ; 
these we put in again for a night and saved, but with a little 
care, of course, one knows how dry to make them. I have also 
done Apples in the usual ring very successfully.” 
In France, Germany, and Switzerland it is a regular practice 
for householders to dry their own Plums in ovens or on trays 
over fires, and, as was stated last week by Mr. Wilks and Mr. 
Bunyard, the custom was somewhat general in Kent a generation 
or two ago. It probably ceased as the French and German prunes 
were found to be better. They were better simply because the 
varieties—the Quetsche in Germany and the D’Agen in France— 
were better adapted for the process by their firm flesh and thick 
skins than the varieties that happened to be grown in home 
orchards. But we have varieties that are equally suitable for use 
in a fresh state and for drying. The valuable rather late Plum 
previously mentioned (Rivers’ Monarch) is one of them, and the 
more it is becoming known the more extensively is it being 
planted. 
At Chiswick the variety Fellemberg gave the best results. 
This is the Plum the Italians use for drying, and it is described 
in the “ Fruit Manual ” under the name of “Italian Prune.” It 
is a large, dark, oval fruit with firm flesh ; good for dessert and 
preserving, and hangs till it shrivels. The Diamond, one of our 
best cooking Plums, also dries well, but the soft fleshed and tender- 
No. 2304.— Vol. LXXXVII., Old Series. 
