Dried Apples Experiment Proves Suceessful

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5310, 24 January 1947, Page 6

Dried Apples Experiment Proves Suceessful

WELLINGTON, last night. The shortage of dehydra+ed apple sl«ce& on inost pvoeers' shelves ha? prove-i a story cf success. When the slices were pnt on tlm mankc*? bv the Internal Marketing Bivision as an experimer.t, the mcvchants5 vi i d:s, rq.'ivalent to 100,000 bushels of fresh apples, were cleared in 1Cdavs. Crop conditions prevent any large increase in ihe amount cf apples to be processed this season, but the executive officer of the divisicn's apple and pear secrior., Mr. W. Menzies, said that at least another 100,000 bushels would be dehydrated. Apple slices will thus be available from Xovember to mid-February j when they can be held more conveniently and safely than fresh fruit. In addition, there is no waste. Dehydrated apples are a product ! perfected during the var. Previously | about 20,000 to 22,090 bushels of j apples were evaporated into "rings." j War demands for dehydrated apples were heavy. Study of modern plants in Britain and America er.abled the process to be changed and improved. The final product, apple slices, cooked as palata'oly as fresh fruit. 1 This improvement encouraged the division to place the eq.'ivalent of 100, 000 bushels on the market instead of ihe 22,000 used hefore. FrGst and hail have reduccdl the conting fruit season's cr p to a prcbable 2,000.000 bushels of apples contparcd with the average of 2,750,000 to 3,000,000 bushels. The Gcvernment has promisdd to send 250,r'",3 cases of ch'IIed apples to Britain. This is onlv a quarter of the quantity ori-ginally sought by the United Kingdom. The 'Nuw Zealand consum.ption of apples has also risen greatly over the last few years. Where there was once scrplus fruit, tr.e whole crop can now be aosorbed at economic pricer.