San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-10-18

being shipped In large quantities-to all OF the
leading markets OF the world No finer fruit
Is produced on this continent than is grown
In the territory embraced under the name of
Western New York, comprising some twelve
OF the most fertile and richest counties of
the Empire state The cultivation of fruit,
especially apples, has superseded all other
agricultural products and has proved the
most remunerative to the growers The or
chartis Of the farming community are the
chief sources of their wealth, and the indus
try prosecuted with undated vigor. largely
aided by the experience, skill and resources
of the great nurseries Of Rochester, famed
throughout the world.
Thousands Of tons Of apples are produced
every season from a quality Of fruit hereto
fore wasted and allowed to rot on the
ground, and which now forms a nice income
TO the grower 1t is in the utilization of these
waste products that the deSiccation of fruit
becomes valuable and indispensable adjunct
to every fruit grower, and the business may
be considered as yet in its infancy
EXTENT OF THE BUSINESS.
Within a radius Of forty miles of Rochester
there are more than 800 evaporators, from
the small farm house drier, of capacity Of
evaporators, drying 800 to 1000 bushels of
apples each twenty-four hours. These eva
porators give employment during the autumn
and early winter months to at least 80 900
hands, who average from S. to $l2 week,
according to experience and usefulness.
New factories are erected every season, prov
ing that the business is profitable when pro-
perly and economically conducted. Constant
care and scrupulous cleanliness are the first
elements Of success in evaporating good
fruit.
The production during the season of 1887
may be we'll considered the largest since the
inception Of the business, some fifteen years
ago. A careful estimate places the total
quantity at about 80, 600, 900 pounds, worth at
first cost some g., 100000. To produce this
quantity Of apples 1t required 5000, 900 bush
els Of apples, Is, 900 tons anthracite coal, and
the constant attendance, night and day, of
an army Of men, women and children, num-
bering $4,000 to $4,000. The water elimi-
mated in the process of evaporation amounted
to %, 900 tons, reducing the bulk of the green
fruit to about one-eighth of its original
weight, each 100 pounds yielding when prop
erly evaporated twelve pounds on an aver
age. The fruit is usually packed in cases Of
two cubit feet measurement, holding fifty
pounds net, the product of say eight and one
half bushels of green apples.
COST OF TRANSPORTATION.
The advantages in freight alone will be
apparent from the following comparison,
showing the cost Of shipping one case to
Liverpool, England, which at existing
freight rates will cost a little less than thirty
cents, while in the green or fresh state in
barrels the same quantity would cost S2.25,
and in the canned state almost 81. 10, without
considering the deterioration of the green
fruit and the dangers of fermentation to the
canned article, the apple in the evaporated
state being transported without any danger
OF deterioration or decay. The refuse Of the
apples, such as the parings and cores, are
dried and form the base of all the cheap jel-
lies manufactured at present. The guam
tity produced last season will aggregate some
zoos, 900 pounds, so that not q particle Of
the fruit is wasted.
The principal consuming countries abroad
are Germany, England, Belgium, Holland
and France, in which the new product has
entirely displaced the old fashioned sun dried
fruit There were shipped alone 10 France
during 1887 some 1000 barrels Of quality
known as chopped or sliced apple, which is
dried without being either pared or cored,
and Is used chiefly for the production Of
cider, cheap wines and distillation when the
vineyards of France suffer from the phyllox-
era Some 100000 pounds were exported
during the season, Of which more than one
half were shipped from Rochester.-Brad-
streets