236 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July. 
(EIje I&rtirttlternl Drpitrtnu’itt. 
CONDUCTED BY J. J. THOMAS, MACEDON, N. Y. 
Drying Frwit. 
A correspondent inquires for a description of- the best 
mode of drying fruit. While so much attention is given 
to the cultivation of fruit, there still exists a great defi¬ 
ciency in good, cheap, and expeditious methods of dry¬ 
ing—which by converting perishable property into a con¬ 
dition for long keeping and easy transportation, may 
greatly increase both in extent and profit, the' culture of 
the highest flavored sorts. 
Dried apples and dried peaches already constitute a 
considerable article of commerce. But their quality is 
immeasurably inferior to that which might be attained. 
The same difference in flavor exists between an unpala¬ 
table seedling and the most highly improved grafted va¬ 
riety, whether they be fresh or dried. Yet the poorest 
apples are usually selected, simply because the dried 
fruit is bought by the pound, and not for its excellence. 
Late or inferior peaches are chosen, because their own¬ 
ers have no other use for them ; when, besides the inferi¬ 
or flavor of the late seedlings so largely used, the cool 
damp weather to which they are exposed while drying, 
does the work in a very imperfect manner, and a half- 
decayed flavor is often mingled with that of the fruit it¬ 
self. If dried at all in the open air, it is of much con¬ 
sequence that early sorts, both of apple and peach be se¬ 
lected, that the benefit of a hot sun may be secured. 
Why is it not as easy to plant and raise early prolific 
sorts, that will ripen at a time when two days of hot sun 
will dry them, as later sorts, which will scarcely get dry 
at all in the open air? 
A good and faultless mode of using artificial heat ap¬ 
pears not to have been yet practiced. The great and ex¬ 
isting deficiency is the want of a free, circulation of the 
heated air. Hence the reason that the use of fiat boards 
and shelves is usually attended with greater or less de¬ 
cay. Light wooden lattice-work is better, but still but 
imperfectly admits a free circulation, without making 
the slits too wide to prevent the dried fruit from falling 
through. Cheap netting of light twine is a still further 
improvement j an easy mode of making it is thus de¬ 
scribed by a correspondent of the Michigan Farmer:— 
lc Take common carpet yarn, warp it for two or three 
yards’ length, just as you choose; use a five or six quar¬ 
ters reed; in drawing through the reed, use every third 
or fourth space between the teeth of it; to insure 
strength, double your thread occasionally, and in weav¬ 
ing, beat two or three threads closely together, and then 
more open, alternately; when taken from the loom, fas¬ 
ten it to a light frame, and it is ready for use.” Frames 
covered with millinet would probably be found well 
adapted for drying the smaller fruits. 
Rooms or buildings made for drying by artificial heat, 
must admit a very free ventilation. We have found that 
when fruit on latice shelves is placed near a fire or under 
a stove, where there is no current of air, and where heat 
is imparted solely by radiation, it becomes heated with¬ 
out drying, for there is no current to sweep off the mois¬ 
ture about it. But when suspended immediately over 
the stove, where the heated air is constantly ascending, 
the process goes on rapidly and perfectly. When thus 
dried, it is nearly white in color, and retains its flavor 
unimpaired, and is incomparably better than a great deal 
that we often see, which is brown with age, and spoiled 
with incipient decay, before the moisture is all expelled 
by the tardy process to which it is subjected. 
The following would probably be a well arranged dry¬ 
ing-room for this purpose. Let the shelves, made of net¬ 
ting stretched on frames, occupy the interior or central 
portion, of the room, one above another, at free inter¬ 
vals, and leaving sufficient space for the person in atten¬ 
dance to pass freely round on every side, next to the wall. 
This would be not only more convenient,but admit a better 
circulation of air, than if the shelves were placed against 
the wall. The room might be heated with a small stove,the 
pipe of which should at first pass horizontally as near 
the floor as possible, and afterwards ascend to cause suf¬ 
ficient draught. This arrangement would heat the room 
far better than to place the pipe overhead, as is too often 
practiced; for in the one case, the heat will rise through 
the whole height of the room, and benefit all parts alike; 
while in the other, it only warms the upper part, and 
neither benefits the lower portions of the room nor cau¬ 
ses a circulation of air. The room must be well venti¬ 
lated at each end near the top, to let off the vapor con¬ 
stantly arising; for even fresh cool air is better than a 
hot air charged with moisture. The ventilators may be 
covered with wire-gauze when it may become desirable 
to exclude flies, wasps, &c. 
Peaches for Drying - . 
[A female friend, who is a thorough practical horti¬ 
culturist, has kindly furnished the following useful no¬ 
tice, which, like every thing else from her pen, is the 
result of more than ordinary judgment and experience.] 
Daving been in the practice of drying large quantities 
of fruit for family use, I have been led to observe which 
kinds yield the greatest proportion, from a given amount 
of fresh fruit. I find that Kenrick’s Heath is by far the 
most productive variety for this purpose. It is a large 
green fleshed peach, ripening the last of 9thmo. (Sept.) 
with us, combining every desirable quality. In the 
autumn of 1850 three bushels of fresh peaches, produced 
half a bushel of dried ones. Five bushels of apples, I 
think, is what we allow to make one of dried fruit. 
Then, the labor is not more than half as great, to pre¬ 
pare the peach, as it is the apple—no coring is neces¬ 
sary,—only pare it, split it in two, and lay them on 
boards, in the oven after taking out the bread; leave the 
door open to permit the moisture to evaporate, and in 
two days they will be ready to put away. Thishasbeen 
my experience for the two seasons past. So highly do I 
esteem this variety, that I have budded several hundreds, 
with the intention of planting an entire orchard of them. 
They are even more profitable than the apple, and come 
much sooner into bearing. E. S. Hillside , Wayne 
county, N. Y. 
To repel the Black Ant. 
R. G. Pardee, of Palmyra, N. Y., informs us that 
after trying the application of a large number of offen¬ 
sive substances, for repelling the black ant from his bor¬ 
ders, he has found tanner’s oil to be completely effectual. 
