The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-09-21
PRUNE DRYER AT MERIDIAN
WILL BE A BUSY PLACE

The new $4,000 plant built here
by the Southern Idaho Dried Fruit
company is now practically complet-
ed and ready for the season of prune
drying The packing of green prunes
started Wednesday. but the drying
of prunes will not commence until
about September %,
This company expects to ship from
Meridian this season about 40 cars of
green grunes and 90 cars OF dried
prunes.
The company's drying plant here is
so feet wide and 200 feet long. with
full basement. 1t is said to be the
largest prune dryer in the northwest.
Prunes and apples will be dried here
this season.
There are As tunnels in which the
prunes are dried. Each tunnel con-
tains 1870 tons. Each tray is 32x97
inches and l "a inches deep. An
average of 80 pounds of prunes are
placed on each tray, or $500 pounds
in each tunnel This makes the prnne
drying capacity OF the as tunnels
$4,000 pounds. or 128 tons per day.
The furnaces are in the basement
directly under the tunnels. There. is a
total of 16 furnaces divided into four
sections, with four furnaces TO each
section. The furnaces are so arranged
that only one section or even one-half
Of one section can be fired without
heating any of the other sections.
1t is thought abont 400 tons OF coal
will he required for the seasons oper-
ations.
The driveway is on the south side
of the plant where the wagon scales
are located. After the prunes are
weighed they are first cleaned, then
dipped in hot lye water. The lye
water checks or breaks the outside
skin of the prunes. The prunes then
are placed in trays and the trays
are put in the tunnels. The breaking
of the skin by the lye water permits
the easy evaporation of the prunes.
When the evaporated prunes are TAX
en- out OF the tunnels they are sacked
and taken over to the company's pro-
cessing department, which is located
in the big fruit packing plant. There
| the prunes are rrocessed and packed
in boxes for shipment to the markets
The big prune dryer is practically
! fire proof. 1t is all wired for electric
light and power for operating the bis
diEper with which the prunes are
dipped in lye water, etc
That part of the enormous base
ment not used by the furnaces is tc
be used for storage of apples. This
storage room is 50x1OO feet in size
is frost proof, and has capacity for
storing about 80 cars of apples.
The men in the big dryer will work
| in shifts of eight hours each, with a
| force of 90 men to the shift, or 60
men when three shifts are working.
This company's big fruit packing
4
! DRYER. Both buildings are on spec
| ially constructed railroad switch. The
packing house is 4Sx140 feet in size
with an upper floor 16X140 feet il
dimensions. The upper floor is where
the dried prunes are graded and pro-
cessed and packed in boxes for the
markets
The packing of green prunes ant
apples is done on the main floor Of
this building which is large enough
to accommodate 100 packers. 1t is eN
pected to use not over 60 prunt
packers this season. Sixty packers car
fill two and half carloads a day
! w. S. McBirney is the generl manag
er of the company, and W. H. Pee
is the superintendent of the dryer ant
packing house Capital News.