News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-02-21
THE EVAP0RATED FRUIT.
EVOLUTION OF THE YANKEE METHOD
OF DRYING APPLES FOR WINTER
USE.

OF DRYING APPLES FOR WINTER
USE.
are Preserved in Almost Their Original
Freshness.
''The Yankees couldn't live through
winter without dried-apple pies and
pumpkin pies. In the fall they pared
the applies, cut them into quarters,
strung them on long stout strings with
the aid of a darning needle. and dec
GRATED the kitchen ceiling with festOons
of the fruit. In the winter, when the
housekeeper wanted to make batch of
pies. she cut off yard or two OF this
drapery. Some smart Yankee some
years ago invented a machine to dry
any fruit or vegetable bv wholesale.
They were named avaporators. and were
first used in New York and New Jersey,
and their principal use is now in those
States. Southern and Western farmers,
however are BEGINNING to understand
the advantages of using them. There
are probably scores of evapOratOrs manu-
featured. Some may be put into anv
clubhouse that is two stories high. while
others require q SEPARATE building for
the purpose. Individual farmers usually
find room in some shed or 'lPan-to. to
avoid expenditure in building for the
purpose, The space required is only -
or Is feet square Of flooring, or even less
than that.
''The various kinds of evaporators are
alike in this. At the bottom is a furnace
for coal or wood. and over the furnace is
q high, narrow enclosed superstrncture,
which looks like a fat wooden chimney
sticking out through the roof. Inside
this chimney the evaporation is carried
on by every different processes in different
machines. Some of the machines NAV
be taken down and put up again with
ease. These were made to be rented to
farmers ut few dollars day. Most of
the evapOrators are tall ENOUGH to run
up through the roof of the building. A
popular machine has Mt the top of the
structure and inside of it a wheel, and at
the bottom another wheel Around
these wheels pass endless chains, carry
ing at intervals of few inches broad
trays or racks, on which the green fruit
is placed. AS the trays revolve. they
remain horizontal The operator stands
at an opening on the side of the evap-
orator, on the first floor above the
heater, and as he takes out tray of
evaporated fruit which comes down to
him in the revolution of the endless
chain of racks, he inserts in its place
tray containing fresh fruit, then gives
the apparatus pull downward, BRINGING
the next tray above, when the operation
is repeated. Trays with the fresh fruit
descend, pass around into the opposite
side of the evaporation, up to the top.
over to the operators side again, and
downward to his hand. If the
machine is handled slillfully the fruit
will be ready to be taken out after MAX
ing one revolution. Failure is liable to
result from drying the fruit so that it is
chippv and tasteless on the one hand. or
so moist as to become quickly heated
and midlewed on the other hand To
prevent this, and to enable the operator
to know the exact condition of the fruit
at any stage of the process, windows
are set in the sides of the evaporation.
and the rate of speed may be regulated
at will. Through the centre of the trunk
is partition dividing the space into two
fues, and damper enables the operator
to throw heat into either or-both of these
sections.
each of the evaporators is built to
carry out different theory of preserving
fruit. The object aimed ct is to produce
an article which may be transported to
foreign shores and be kept for years,
while it retains as much as possible its
Il
taste. The green fruit shOuld be heated
Immediately to as great degree of heat
as it will bear without perceptibly chang
ing its color. Hot air will not penetrate
and scald the fruit, he says, as moist air
can. As the fruit rises gradually through
the hottest fiue the heated air and vapor
passes off at the top. While rising, the
heat on the outside of the fruit is diff
fused through it, and while descending
the other fine to the operator it receives
its last heating and is removed. Another
inventor arsJies~#4at frIit shOuld he first
subjected to a humid atmosphere to
soften it, and then gradually dried by in
creasing the heat. In this inventors
machine the fruit is put in at the top, on
trays, and taken out at the bottom. An
other inventor exactly reverses the pro-
cess. and it is a popular process, too. AS
the fruit gets TO the top of the shaft il is
believed thnt it absOrbs flavor from the
hot odor-laden atmosphere constantly
rising. Still another inventor passes i
the fruit through a horizontal trunk |
having a furnace at one end and a fan
at the other end TO return the hot air. 1t
is claimed that it is economical to re-
turn the heated air and vapor.
"Evaporators are now settling down |
into steady demand. Farmers have
been shaky about buying, because so |
many burned down. Thirty or more |
burned down in one county in one sea- |
son. Farmers are beginning to find out, |
however, that when the market is dull |
these machines will transform their per-
ishable fruit into imperishable. An |
will frequently save enough
fruit from decay to pay for itself III a
year. This year a very large number of
boxes of evaporated fruit were sent
abroad One machine turns out from
- to 100 bushels a day. AS to profits, 1
have heard that several large cider man.
establishments In n. Y. State
and in New Jersey have given up their
cider presses and have bought evapo-
rators. Representatives of these com
panies inform me that out of 10000
bushels of apples less than $500, net,
was made in manufacturing cider, while
from the same quantity of apples evapo-
rated more than 50, 900 was realized. A
New Jersey farmer says that the profit
on 100 baskets of peaches, pared, is $50.
This is about days work, and if the
season continues forty days the profit,
by q simply process in arithmetic,
amounts to 81 40. The bulk of the
business, so far, is in apples and peaches,
but it could be extended"
"Where is the business in apples and
carried on with most vigor? ?"
peaches in New Jersey, Delaware,
and Pennsylvania, and apples
in New York, New England and
Canada"
"What other things are evaporated? ?"
''Black and red raspberries, strawber-
ries, blackberries, cherries, grapes,
sweet corn, potatoes, beans and pump
zins. Cabbage and celery are bleaehed
% crispy white. The latest notion is
finely chopped vegetables to
De used in soups. L see no reason why
/ revolution should not be produced in
he trade in these common bulky vege
ables, the transportation of which costs
10 much to city consumers.