Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-10-15
E,spora,,ur Fru,, on a Small Scale.

A correspondent of the Husbandman finds
drying apples in one of the lately invented
evaporators TO pay small profit reckoning
the evaporatCd fruit at ten cents pound
As autumn approached this year, 1 fully
realized that there was 10 be un immense over
production of apples, at least in my own
neighborhood. l saw my own and my neigh
bors' trees literally breaking down under their
burdens. The constant dropping of apples,
that heard both day and night, reminded me
forcibly that, unless | could find some means
for preserving them, the most bountful yield
that l have ever seen III my orchard must
largely 60 to waste. The markets have been
80 well stocked with choice peaches pears
and plums, that no one has cared to buy APP
pies. The dread that | felt of seeing the
ground i'll my orchard covered with choice APP
pies going to decay, led me TO purchase one
of the small. sized evaporators that have fire.
quently been advertised in our agricultural
journals.
The result of my experiment may be Of
some interest to others, espe cially as it is not
the testimony of an agent who has a machine
to sell, but of one who has no axe to grind,
unless it be desire to benefit his brother farm
ers by giving q truthful statement of facts
The machine l purchased is the No ., or
farm" size of the American Evaporator, 4"
L IL
printed circular of the manufacturers claims
that the apparatus is capable of producing as
good quality of evaporated fruit as the larg-
er machines that it will work from twelve to
fifteen bushels of apples per day; that it will
| produce six or six aud one-half pounds of dried
fruit from one bushel of green apples, and
that the cost of conversion will not exceed >
cents per bushel of green fruit. These claims,
though perhaps not unattainable under the
most favorable circumstances, are, as might
| be expected, more than can be depended on
| in the average. bushel of picked fall pip
pins, that measured in the average lO3 inches
in circumference, and that weighed when
| green 4 pounds, made but five and one-half
pounds of eyaporated apples. l no longer
count ON more than five pounds of dried fruit
from bushel of apples. If any one is able
to manufacture and dry twelve bushels of
| green apples in n day, he has nimbler fingers
than possess. Eight bushels day is all
| that / can handle and it requires favorable
weather and good apples to work that amount.
| have, however, produced an excellent quail
ity of dried fruit, which is pronounced by
| judges as equal to the best. The cost for
| fuel does not exceed n cent per bushel of green
apples.
The evidence may be summed up in a few
words. Allowing ten cents per pound as the
Wholesale price of the evaporated article, and
five pounds to the green bushel, apples are
worth, evaporated, fifty cents per bushel
From this must be deducted one cent pei
bushel for fuel about ten cents per bushel
for labor, and at least five cents bushel fol
packing. This leaves thirty four cents pei
Gushel for the apples, figure that is decided
ly above the average market price this fall
! A person who has not much other business on
his hands, therefore, can make the small
ovapOrator pay in seasons when there is little
market for green fruit.