The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-07-30
TO USE THE SUN.
Fruit Drying Under
GIass=COvered Cases.
GROWERS ARE INTERESTED.
Mr.. Calkins' Drying Process Is Com.
ing to the Front and Promises
to Cheaper Fruit.
Under
Cases.
GROWERS ARE INTERESTED.
Corresponds nce OF THE MORNING CALL

Los ANGELES, July 2S.-This is the
fruit-drying season, and the thoughts Of
the grower turn naturally toward meas
ures and methods best calculated to pre-
serve the largest amount of fruit in the
shortest time and at the least expense.
The primitive method of drying fruit on
the bare ground, though inexpensive at
the start. and still much in vogue in Cali
fOrnia, is this year decried more generally
than ever.
Fruit dried in this way does not COM
mand as good prices in the market as that
cured In the evaporators. The exposure
to dust and to insects impairS tine III arket
value Of the product and conduces to APP
palling waste when it is all summed up.
Then, too, storms-rain showers-do some
times occur in the course o. California
summer. This was the case last July in
Vaca Valley, when tons of fruit were
spoiled by the unexpected raindrOps, and
other tons had to be covered or packed up,
at no inconsiderable cost to the grower,
who failed to make up for the extra out
lay by an added market value. No; dry
ing on the ground won't do for California a.
| It's too primitive a method. And so the
hopes of the dryers and growers have
turned toward the patent evaporators.
These are good. They dry quickly and
| there is no exposure TO the moisture OF
night, chance raindToDs, or to dust and
| insects
Still the evapora tors are not all that
could be desired. In the first place they
are eXpensive-too expensive. In truth, TO
make fruit-dryiDg profitable business.
First of all an expensive plant is needed.
| The fuel must be furnished, and fuel Is
dear In California.
| More than this, the evaporators are not
perfect in their execution. They require
| the utmo watchfulness, and with all The
watching the product is sometimes burned
! or scorcned.
Comes now another process of fruit
| drying, and those most interested are dis
| cussing its merits with avidlty. &. u.
| Calkins of this city is the originator OF the
new method. He claims no patent, but he
| claims much for the work 1t Will do. And
| those who ought to know most about 1t
are disposed to grant all his claims. Mr..
Calkins' plan is to dry fruit under glass or
thin cotton cloth. OF course glass Is
preferable, though more expensive. and 1t
| is chiefly of the latter that he claims the
most because all his experiments have
been in this line.
| Glass cases about 6xS feet in surface
| measurement and about 8 inches in depth.
| are provided for the fruit, which is laid IN
| on two trays The trays are placed on
rollers in such a way that they may be in
clined toward the suns rays as the sun
| changes
| Mr. Cakins' experiments prove that the
glass cases conserve the heat of the sun to
a considerable extent and increase its in
! iensity almost twofold. When the normal
temperature is 60, the sun shining on
these glass cuses increases the interior
temperature to 80 degrees. Aud the rate
| of increased Interior temperature is cumu-
lative. SO that an outside temperature Oh
say 100 degrees would make temperature
in side the glass of fully or more than $50
degrees.
Though the glass cases are more expen-
| sive than the dry mother earth. they are
not nearly so expensive as the eyapOrators.
| Nor do they perform their work as quickly
as the evaporators can. But the difference
in the cost of the two plants-to say moth
| ing of the fuel necessary for the quick
work of the evaporator-more than com
pensates for the slowness Of the glass
process. And the sl0wness is only rela-
tive, Mr.. Calkins has proved. 1t is far
quicker process than that of earth-drying,
far cleaner. far safer and surer and very
much cheaper than the evaporation process.
"Why should we always be seeking for
artificial heat" says Mr.. Calkins, when
| nature has given us all we can use. if we
but learn to utilize the natural forces and
| elements?"
| Something of the same belief is the man
| up in Massachusetts who has invented
| continuance to store up the heat from the
sun and pine it into private houses as
natural fuel for cooking and heating.
| Coming back again TO the fruit-dryDg
| process, Mr.. Calkins says his device is
particularly adapted to places where the
sunshine is intermittent. During the
absence OF the sun. for time ut least. the
drying process continues under the in
| fluences of the heat stored up In the glass
| cases and The fruit itself is not subjected
| to the ravages Of worms or to the Influences
| of moisture at night or ncipent showers
in the daytime.
"But there is danger of burning your
! fruit under these glass cases when the sun
gets very hot, is there not?" growers have
| questioned Mr.. Calkns.
THAT danger is obviated by ventila-
| tors" said Mr.. Calkins. and. to tell the
| truth. the fruit men bio fair to very
| rapid conversion in this matter. Some
are already trying the new process, and
others are getting ready TO do so. Some
| look with favor upon Mr.. Calkins' plan Of
using cheesecloth or some thin cotton stuff
as covering in place of the glass. Its
| chief merit is its cheapness. However, it
affords about the same protection to the
as valuable In accommodating and storing
the heat from the suns rays.
| An ample proof of the cumulative
powers of cotton cloth as applied to heat Is
| given on hot day In closed tent When
the sun is beaming down fercely On the
canvas and the flap in front Is hermeti-
cally sealed by pins. the tepidarium of a
Eammam bath establishment is not to be
mentioned in the same breath.
''Some cheap and simple process of pre-
| serving California fruit must be found"
says Mr.. Calkins. Canning is too ex-
pensive and the days of jams and jellies
are fading away under the sledge-hammer
| blows of the dietetic refnrmerS.
"Dried fruit is natural and healthy
| product and must grow more and more in
| favor as the masses OF the people become
educated into fruit-eatlng. The trouble
| now is that fruit is too dear luxury for
the poor man, even in California, and yet
the dryers and Gamers are constantly COM
planning of small profits"
And | have found that a good many of
the fruit men down here are disposed to
agree with Mr. Calkins on every PROPOSE.
ton. If they keep on agreeing with him
and find his method of drying cheap, quick
and clean, the chances are that dried fruit
will be reasonable enough this winter to
enable you and to have our dessert regu-
larry without sending the grower to the
r