Bill of lumber for dry-house: Four pieces 2x4, 10 feet long; flooring,
150 feet; 1x1 strips, for trays, 400 feet, lineal measure; 1x2, 47 feet,
lineal measure; 1x4, for tray rest in center, 47 feet, lineal measure.
How to build and operate: For the house or box part, take four pieces of
2x4, 56 inches long, and four pieces 2x4, 37-1/2 inches long; nail
together with the short pieces on the inside, lapping the long ones on
the end of the shorter--thus making a frame 52x37-1/2 on the inside.
This makes the sills and plates. Close three sides of this with matched
flooring, up and down, seven feet high; now you have a box seven feet
high, 52x37-1/2 inches. Leave the one side open to be closed with four
doors similar to double stable doors, and in the exact center of this
door space nail a 1x2 inch piece up and down to nail tray rest to. This
will give two rows of trays.
Put comb roof on with the flooring, leaving a vent open at comb two
inches the entire length of box. Make a V trough, which turn upside down
with one inch blocks under the corners; this gives ventilation and also
keeps out the rain; also make two six-inch holes below, to be opened or
closed as needed; this admits cold air and drives the hot air up,
causing complete draft. When the evaporator is full of fruit, the holes
below should be open full size, except at night, when fruit is nearly
dried, they should be closed, or partly so, which is done by tacking a
small piece of board over hole, which can be pushed to one side and a
nail or screw hold it in place. For the trays to rest on, take a piece
1x4, 37-1/2 inches long, nail a two-inch piece of same length in center
of this, on top; this gives one inch on each side for rabbet; this is
for center, and the rabbet rest is nailed to it through the 1x2 inch in
front, and through the siding on rear side. For the outside rabbet, one
piece 1x1 inch, 37-1/2 long; this nailed to the end of the box forms
rabbet for the trays to rest on. As many of these tray rests can be made
as needed to fill the box to near the top of doors. Place the first ones
twelve inches from bottom of box, and continue up, placing them three
and one-half inches apart. The trays are made of 1x1 inch strips for the
frame part, and are 2x3 feet square; bottom is made of plastering lath
sawed in two, and also cut in two lengthwise, as they are too wide; nail
these to bottom of frame, three-sixteenths of an inch apart. When used
for berries or sweet corn, tack cheese cloth stretched tightly over the
lath. There should be four doors, in order to have as small a space open
as possible in attending to the fruit; these are hung by light hinges to
outside and fastened by a wooden button screwed to center upright. The
lumber can all be bought at planer ready for use cheaper than it can be
cut by hand.
For the furnace, build a box of brick or stone as large on the inside as
the house, letting the most of the wall extend on the outside, in order
to have all the space possible inside, for heating. Build into this wall
at the bottom and ends a piece of heavy stack or sheet iron; any old
smoke-stack will do, but must be at least one foot in diameter: if
smoke-stack is used, split it and spread as much as possible, to have
large enough place for fire and all the heating surface possible. This
open edge of iron must be well plastered down with mortar, or brick and
mortar, that no smoke may get inside. Let it extend just through the
wall to a flue built at the end on the outside, of brick or stone, as
high or a little higher than the wall; then a common six-inch stovepipe
set on, to run as high as the evaporator, will do. A damper in pipe is
an advantage to check draft and control heat, and pipe should be at
least one foot from evaporator.
The mouth of furnace should be at same end as the ventilator holes in
the evaporator, and can be closed by a piece of sheet iron with a small
draft underneath, the same as a stove door.
Set your box evaporator on this wall, and mud or plaster it down tight.
In using, always have your house well heated before putting in fruit.
The top of wall must be fully one foot above top of iron; this will make
two feet space from iron to first tray. In putting the trays in, shove
the first one clear back, let second be flush in front, the third clear
back again--placing them the same in both sides; this sends the heated
air directly over each tray to the top.