—A very important industry in this country is the preservation of apples by drying or evaporation. The term “dried” apples is usually applied to the product which is naturally dried by cutting the apples into convenient sizes and exposing them to the action of the sun. This is more of a domestic than a commercial industry, and until the introduction of artificial drying was practiced very generally by the farmers’ wives of the country. It was not an unusual thing in the autumn to see the roofs of smoke houses or kitchens practically covered with sliced apples exposed to the drying influence of the autumnal sun. In such cases care must be exercised always to have the exposed articles under such control as to enable them to be gathered up and put away when rain is threatening. The dried apple is a wholesome fruit, although somewhat unattractive in appearance owing to the darkening of the surface during the long exposure necessary to secure the proper degree of evaporation. When properly prepared the dried apple has its moisture content reduced to approximately 30 percent or less.
Evaporated Apples.
—The term “evaporated” is applied to apples produced on the same principle as “dried,” but instead of being exposed to the heat of the sun they are artificially dried by evaporation. This industry has reached a great magnitude in this country, and Wayne Co., New York, especially, may be regarded as one of the centers of the evaporating industry.
Cherries.
—The cultivated cherry tree is believed by Bailey and Powell to have been derived from its ancestral type, the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.), which is characterized by a diffuse and mostly low, round-headed growth with fruit which is always red, with soft flesh and very sour taste, and from the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), a tall growing tree with the bark tending to peel off in birch-like rings and with variously colored fruit, spherical or heart-shaped, with the flesh hard or soft and generally sweet. There are a great many varieties of these trees. The cherry orchard begins to bear profitably at about the age of five years; the trees often live to a great age and continue to bear fruit. Records of cherry trees over a hundred years old are known. However, it is believed that about thirty years is the limit for profitable bearing. Cherries grow in all parts of the United States. Formerly the crop was a very important one in the East, especially New York, but of late years the California cherries have been more and more occupying the market. As a rule the California cherries are finer in appearance, larger, and freer from worms and imperfections, and possess a flavor which is often equal to that of the best flavored cherries grown in the East.
Composition of Cherries.
—What has been said respecting the variations in the composition of apples is applicable with equal force to cherries. In the following table is given first the mean composition of six samples of cherries of American origin with the maximum and minimum. Following this is the mean composition of nine samples of foreign cherries.
| No. of Samples. | Total Solids. | Ash. | Acidity Expressed as H2SO4. | Protein N × 6.25. | Total Sugars. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | ||
| American origin: | ||||||
| Average, | 6 | 20.13 | .443 | .432 | 1.425 | 11.10 |
| Maximum, | 38.84 | .521 | .605 | 1.727 | 12.75 | |
| Minimum, | 11.46 | .403 | .328 | 1.100 | 8.98 | |
| Foreign origin: | ||||||
| Average, | 9 | 19.74 | .73 | .665 | .620 | 10.24 |
The data show that the average quantity of insoluble matter in cherries is about the same whether of American or foreign origin. The total solids represent that part of the cherry which is not water, including principally the cellulose, the ash, and the protein. The quantity of protein, as is seen, is quite small, the average being a little less than 11⁄2 percent. The total sugar present, including cane sugar and reducing sugar, is a little over 11 percent. The analytical table does not give the minute portions of essential oils, ethereal substances, and acids to which the juice owes its distinctive flavor.