The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-09-25
Dried Apples.


If there ls one thing more than another
hat Pulaski county, KY, is or should b,
noted for. 1t II her immense production ol
dried apples. In years when the crop IL
good, the amount shipped from this place
ls something enormous, measured by The
dozens Of carloads In ff,'t. Az the apple
crop this year ,s very geod, Pulaski county
can be depended on to do her share to-
wards inaatlng-well, If not tho currency,
at least the stomachs of the country. There
are no notably large orchards IN tho colln-
ty, the most extensive containing only 400
or 500 trees. 1t Is rather singular, too, that
this should be the case, as no better fruit
producing county can be found in Ameri-
ca than many parts OF Pulaski county.
The large quantities shipped from this
place are the united production of great
many persons Nearly every farmer in the
county has more or less Of an orchard, and
as soon as the apples are Il: for the purpose
sometimes sooner, perhaps) tho female
portion of the household commence con-
verting them into the well.known Schultz. ;
Ordinarily they are supply peeled and
cored and laid out in the sun, either on
boards or convenient roof, aud old Sol
does the rest of the work. There are a few
evap oratcrs III The county, however. 1t is
only question of time when thev will, to
great extent, supplant tho old method of
drying the fruit in the sun The evapo
rAted article always commands ready Gale
at several times the price of ordinary fruit
and in addition no risk is rua of having it
spoiled by rain like that which lies out on
roofs and boards. The evaporated fruit IS
much the incest and most wholesome artl-
Gle Of food, and as, aside from the first cost
of an evaporator and the lutte fuel reuuir-
ed to run It, the cost Of the production is
tho same as tue sun-dried article, the diff
ference of from 100 to 800 per cent IN the
value of the two Is no small item in lts
favor. D0rlng their season dried apples
form an important part OF the currency of
the county. The most Of. the merchants
Ia Somerset and all of the country store.
keepers deal in them, and whcn tho farmer
or any of his family need any article for
personal or household use, they are sure of
getting 1t If they have the requisite NUN
Der of pounds OF dried apples. They are
paid tor by the merchants altogether In
trade, no one as yet ever having done a
cash business lit them. No doubt whoever
would do 80 would do iani-uf1i % bust.
8esss. but whether it would be u. ,nsp,ns
price Is foouf tuhts pr "T,oahnor 81. O4
bushel of twenty-slX pounds, though sonIe-
tines the price has gone little below that
and at other times above It, Last year
they brought four cents, while the year be.
fore they sold at from four to s!x cents.
Last year the apple crop was light conse
quently tho shipments of tho dried article
were not nearly 30 large as usual. Only
about 800, 900 pounds were shipped from
here. The year previous the crop was I'm.
usually good, and there Was also good
peach crop, and the shipment Of dried ap
pies and peaches from tins point aggrcga-
ted the enormous amount OF nearly s ,300,-
900 pounds. or over SIXTY CARLOADS. Of
this amount probably not more than one
fourth or one-titth were peaches. The av
erage price paid was five cents per pound,
so the revenue Of the county from this
source alone was over 800 900. 1t must
be taken into consideration, too, that there
are numerous small stores scattered
throughout the county that bought up and
shipped great deal Of fruit, though just
how much there is no means Of knowing.
The apples as bought are put away In the
merchants store rooms, and when sufi-
clent have been taken in to make q car
load or more, they are sacked up In from
100 TO 100 pound sacks and shipped to Gin
cinnati aud aold. AT present they are
bringing 81 90 per busnel In the city, With
prospects that the prlce will advance.
There ID vlsible Improvement III the quail.
ity of those brought TO market this year
over former years. which adds cOnsidera-
bly, to their s9leableness.