FRUIT EVAPORATING.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7782, 9 February 1891, Page 3

FRUIT EVAPORATING.

Some remarks on the above eabjcc, made by the QardeMri Chronicle a few mouths ago, when the British f rail; season was commencing, are reprinted in these columns, in the hope of drawing attention to what ought to become a leading industry in this country; the more especially as it requires no large expendltiirfc ot capital at its origination. A description of a moat inexpensive apparatus was Riven in this paper on December 7tb, 18b8—a machine so cheap and easy of construction as to permit any person, handy with tools themselves, tomaoufactureit. The evaporatingproctsa as alluded to in the following extracts, appears to be of a somewhat moro elaborate character. The Chronicle says : " At a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, attention was directed to an American apparatus, which has for its object the drying or evaporating ot Peaches, Pears, Apples, and other fcuitw, so as to render them marketable commodities long after they would be so in a natural condition. These evaporated fruits are produced in vast quantities, and have become regular articles of trade in all parts of the United States, and are slowly making their way into the markets ol England and the European Continent. Across the Atlantic they are in constant use, and are highly appreciated; and we are told that the cost of transforming freau fruit into the condition of evaporated fruit as it is met with in what in this country are called Italian "Warehouses—the American equivalent we are unacquainted with —including packages, carriage, middleman's commission, retailer's profit, &c.,'la no more than admits of their use by tne consumer at a reasonable price, and that the grower secures a remunerative profit. We have no reason to doubt this statement, and can only hope it is true ; for if it is, we can see no reason why the English fruit grower may not also become a fruit-evaporator, a supplier to the English shop-keepers of a useful article Of food, and at the same time a profit-earner for himself by means of fruit which, in plentiful seasons in its natural condition, is too often of no value whatever. " There appear to be two typical forme of fruit-evaporators in use in the United States: one is a hot-air chamber placed perpendicularly above a stove in which either coal or wood may be burned; in the other the hot-air chamber, heated in precisely the same way, is arraeged. obliquely away from, instead of perpendicularly above, the stove. Each type has its advocates. But the truth seems to be that both kinds of evaporators dry the fruit efficiently, and make it a marketable commodity, which is easy of transport, saleable at a moderate price, and of almost" universal use. "The use of evaporators in America began some twenty years ago, and originated In a felt necessity to provide some easily available method of dealing with perishable fruit. The early form of the existing evaporator was soon originated, and experience and enterprise have led to the development of numberless improved varieties ; but so far as our investigations have informed us, they all seem to possess one common excellence —they enable the fruitgrower to manipulate his fresh fruit, .for which he cannot find a remunerative sale, at small cost, so that ho can wait one month—or twelve if need be, before.he sends it to market in a form which com* mands a remunerative price for the raw material, plus the cost of converting it in* to a manufactured article. . , " Evaporators are made in several sizes, from small ones capable of evaporating three to five bushels of green Apples per diem, to such as will evaporate ten times the quantity. The smaller apparatus costs £5, and the larger sizes £50 and upwards. One firm makes an evaporator costing £135, which will dry 150 bushels of Apples per day. They are thus available for all classes of fruit growers, whether on the smallest or largest ncale. In America, fruit evaporation is developing into a most important industry, ana ia one district, within a radius of forty miles, Rochester, in New York county, being the central point, no less a sum than £<JD/,000 was secured for evaporated fruits in tho year 1888. In the same year, in California, the value of similar products amounted to £431,550. Twenty years ago, evaporated fruits were practically unknown." The following paragraph Iβ certainly a* applicable to New Zealand as to the old country:—" It is needless to point out that the fruit production of this country is oh a much smaller scale than in the States, but a method of dealing with fruit which enhances its value as a saleable commodity, and postpones the time when it must be sent to market, aud thereby gives the producer some chance ot selecting the most favourable time to sell it, is apparently worthy of consideration by the British fruit-growers." . . /■ The article concludes by suggesting that enterprising men should set up theapparatus in suitable localities, and do the whole of the evaporating for the entire district— either buying up the available fruit aC the lowest price on their own account, or converting the green fruit into the evaporated commodity at an agreed price per- bushel on account of the grower. • ■ •■■■•"• It may here not be out of place to give the marKtet prices of apples and pears, as stated in the commercial in tellfeence ol the journal we are quoting, on : December 17th, 1890. Wholesale—Covent Garden. Apples, half-sieve (which contains 3i~ imperial gallons) 3s 6d to 7«. In SpitaltfWds market—English apples, 4s to 8s per bushel, American apples ios to 22s per bushel* pears 3s to 69 half-sieve. - ■<■■•-..•.