The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-06-06
TALKED ABOUT EvApoRAroRs.

The increased interest manifested in the
Central Willamettee Fruit Union is indeed
encouraging. The subject of evaporators
was to be discussed last Saturday, and the
meeting was well attended. those present
being all actual fruit growers. Mr. Kurtz,
of Salem, patentee of the Kurtz evaporator,
was present and spoke at considerable length.
giving the result of his experience in the
care and drying of prunes. The drying sea
son, he said, lasted hut % days. Many
growers were not prepared for the caring
| for their crop. The burning question now
is: How can we save and get cur money
back on our orchards? Prunes for drying
| should be fully ripe, They should not be
bruised or carelessly handled. and better
results can be obtained by allowing the
prunes to stand for four or five days after
picking. He explained in very lucid man
ner the fact that growers should strive to
excel in quality rather than quantity.
Poorly cured prunes, injured the trade and
and investment. Mr.. Kurtz was ct the
opinion that if prime raisers could get from
81 to cents per pound, there was more in
prunes than in any other crop taken off the
grousd.
One fault the speaker found, was that
there was no harmonious action i'll the
present system of evaporation. This was
thought to be essential. More money had
been lost in experimen tation with evapora-
tors than in anything else in the state.
When prunes were placed in dryer they
should be gradually reduced to l65 degrees
as the curing process is completed. There
was no such thing as good prune cured i'll
six hours. In each 100 pounds of prunes
there exists 65 pounds of water, which has
to be drawn out. This requires from Is to
% hours to attain best results. There is no
use il grading prunes. Mr.. Kurtz thought,
until after they were dried. fle also stated
that full ripe prunes would dry at least 6
pounds more to the kundredweight..o green
fruit. than fruit not fully matured. He was
firmly of the opinion that more money
could be made by drying only The best fruit.
Small, scrubby stock should not be placed
en- the market, as it INJURIES the sale of the
entire crop.
Samuel Daw, Of Halsey, was present and
made few interesting statements, regard
ing his experience in the growing, curing
and sale of dried prunes. He stated that
SO, 600 pounds was the estimated crop for
1895, of Oregon italian pruues. On this
account there is need for the consideration
of marketing the crop. After two or three
wears, growers would have market at
home, providing they gave proper attention
to the curing and grading of the first two
crops He stated that in Francs 40's to
SOS sold for 25 cents per pound, and that
the growers of that country were sending
their culls to America, for 7 cents per
pound, where they were mixed with Oregon
prunes and placed on the market as domestic
fruit. Mr.. Daw stated that orchardists
about Eugene had made special efforts dur
ing the past to place their fruit on the mar
ket in the best possible condition, and the
good results of this are now being felt. AL
ready Eastern buyers have visited the grow.
ers about Eugene, and offered them and s
cents for this years crop. When we can
catch an Eastern customer for two years
we will have market right at home.