Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1898-11-18
Y VEGETABLES
A New Industry OF the Fso1
Coast
Potatoes, Onions, Carrots 49,
vegetables ~ Treated . .
In the Mining Re-
RiOnO.

A new and important industry mas
come into existence in santa o.Ais
county. which bids fair in time to riva'
the fru;t drying. This is the PrePara-
tion of dried vegetables for the ma'
ket. which al present is generaiiy eon-
a,ed tn the short season at the drlers
between the ripen:ng Of the di11eren'
fruits. Just lately The vegetables ha.e
Lcer usu.ping the place oi the ap''co.s'
.,,t tl.y have LON already begun "
. /: re wa Ia turn To The pruhes.
Oh, approaching IA drier 1t does NOT
.ak. ore .opg 10 decide whether 1ruit
or Vegetables ale being prepared !or
in lie %lattcr case a puhgeht o"o,
=, shes on, to sting ones eyes ano
cav, uncnmfur,ao.y up ones nostriis
for the trai, Of onions is over me iau".
Vituin a..Nu, scene is presented. Men
arr, A,.rrying to and fro bearing 'raPs
au., boxes, while long rows OF women
aus; children sit busily peeling Pota-
toes ard carrots, which. together WIN
III. onions. form at present the staple
ufoauct. When boxes OF potatoes OF
ca,,ots are filed, they are poured into
Il Ian e hopper, and from there fed 10 a
maehine with rotating nife-piaoes
watch cuts them up into small sllves
4 quarter of an inch thick. Inc iur-
| ther process which the potatoes under
| 70 is simple, and for carrots n the
| other minor vegetables it is practically
the same.
After being sliced the tubers are
| slightly s%ulphured in a chamber built
of wood. Here great discrimination
must be used, for, if they are sulphured
TOO much, the potatoes will taste OF
| the fumes; if too little, they will not
contain enough antiseptic property,
and bacteria attracted by the starch will
! develop. Moreover, a little sulphuring
is necessary to preserve the color OF
the vegetables as far as possible m to
prevent decay.
After this process the potatoes are
not spread out in the sun, but put into
an e%vaporator. The latter looks like
a small Ferris wheel, and is inclosed in
a sort of brick oven with glass windows
Within this it ~revolves close to hot-ail
pipes for q few hours. When the mois'
ture is sufficiently evaporated the carl
Of the wheel are emptied through the
windows, and their contents are now
ready for shipment in sacks.
When this stage is reached the SLICED
potatoes resemble dry chips, and II
takes six or seven pounds of the fresl
to make one pound of the dried.
By their pungency onions possess thu
power of warding off bacteria, and are
therefore, only slightly sulphured t
preserve their color. They are next evap
Grated until onethird of the moisture i
expelled, and then placed in trays il
the sun, just as is done with fruit. IN
drying process shrivels the onions 81
much that it takes 20 parts of the fresl
to make one Of the dried. While tn
onions are being cut up the moistur
coming from them is very disagreeabl
and hard on the eyes of the employees.
When carrots are evaporated it take
about nine parts of them to make on
dried part. Perhaps the drying process
used in the case of both carrots an,
potatoes might be improved upon wer
steam employed. By using the latte
the starch in the potatoes would be par,
ly cooked and sterilized, and after thi
the tubers could be evaporated in
chamber similar to the one above d.
scribed. In this way the potatoes coul
be rid of sulphur, well dried and ye
capable of being quickly soaked, an
there would be no chance for bacteri
to develop.
Other vegetables than these mel
toned are at present in process of d.
velopment; but SO far the industry he
proved very profitable, as evinced b
the increased demand for dried veg,
tables all over the country, but esp
cially in the mining regions.-San FraI
ciscO Call