Vol. XVII. No. 4i;>. 



THE AGRICULTURAL ITEWS, 



155 



SIMPLE METHODS OP KEEPING FRUIT 

 AND VEGETABLES FRESH. 



Mo.'st of the ordinary niethoiU lor preserving fruit and 

 vegetables involve a certain amount of cooking; that is to 

 say, the fruits are not kept in a fresh condition. Tlie 

 following methods of keeping fruit and vegetable- fresh for 

 a long period are described in the IWa/th cf India, 

 January 191b;. 



It is stated that if the fruit is not wanted to be 

 kept for more than a month or so, tins with well fitting 

 lids, perfectly clean and dry insiJt-, should be provided. 

 The fruit to be kept must be carefully examined, and any 

 .specimen showing the smallest sign of decay .should be 

 rejected. Every fruit should be ripe but not in the least 

 degree over-ripe. Imnier.se the fruits for a moment in 

 a bowl of water almost at boiling puint. The moisture soon 

 dried ott', and then the fruits may be packed in the tins, 

 which when closed should be put away in a cool [ilace. The 

 (lipping in the scalding water i.s for the purpose of killing 

 any germs of moulds which might be present on the skin of 

 the fruit. 



Another method advised is to pack the fruit with 

 powdered cork. Thij material fnrnis a protection against 

 changes in temperature and \aiiations in the amount of 

 moisture in the atmosphere. In this case also, perfectly 

 sound fruit should be selected, and wiped perfectly dry. 

 A ii-incb layer of cork dust is to be spread on the bottom 

 of a wooden box, and the fruit arranged on that, care being 

 taken that no one fruit touches another. When the first 

 laver is arranged, fill up all the spaces between the fruit 

 with powdered cork, and cover the first layer with another 

 inch of the material. Proceed in the same way until the 

 box is filled. It is claimed that fruit and vegetables treated 

 in this manner will keep fresh for a year. When taken out 

 the fruit need only be dipped into water to remove the cork 

 dust. 



Sawdust has been tried in tiic same way, but it is not 

 entirely satisfactory, owing probably to the fact that it is 

 dittiouU to obtain sawdust absolutely free of moisture. 



It is .said that experiments in this direction, conducted in 

 France, have shown that line sand is of value for the purpose. 

 The sand must be perfectly clean, and in order to render it 

 so it is necessary to subject it to several washings. After 

 washing, the sand must be completely dried by sun heat, or 

 artificial warmth. Each specimen of fruit or vegetable to be 

 pre.served should be wrapped in thin paper, and packed in 

 a box with the sand in the simc ni. inner as with cork dust, 

 ilost vegetables, and all kind of fruit, except soft berrie.s, can 

 be treated in this way, and are found to keep their flavour 

 and aroma for a long time. When required for use the pre- 

 served articles are simply washed with plain water. 



Another plan, which is stated to oe especially useful in 

 dealing with apples and pears, and which would seem to be 

 just as suitable for dealing with many tropix^l fruits , is 

 described as follows: Prepare a .solution in the proportion of 

 1ft). of resin, loz. tallow, and loz. bees- wax. Put these into 

 an iron s»ucepan, and melt slowly over a fire, taking care 

 that the mixture does not boil. Kach fruit must then be 

 separately rubbed over with whiting or i>recipitated chalk. 

 In order to dip the fruits into the hot mixture a small pointed 

 sti'-k should be inserted into each After dipping, hold the 

 fruit in the air for a moment, that the thin coating of the solu- 

 tion may set firm. The wooden chip should not be pulled out, 

 as that would leave an unprotected spot. The coated fruit 

 may then be put away on shelve.s ^.r in boxes, and when they 

 are required for use, it is only necessary to :rack the coating 



and peel it oti'. It i- claimed that fruit thu- hermetically 

 sealed up are beautifully preserved for a considerable time. 

 It must be remembered tliat when fruit has been pre- 

 served in any of these methods, it is important that it should 

 not be kepc too long after removal from tlie bo.^ in which it 

 has been stored. After any process of preserving, fruit when 

 exposed again to the air will decay more rapidly than' when 

 it has been freshly gathered. 



THE DEMAND FOR CASTOR OIL 



During the last ciuple of years considerable attention 

 Ins been directed to increasing the production of castor 

 oil. According to the Eds/i'r/i Afi>n>/iii; ^Av-V'.v, April 10, 

 19 1*^, Hull has for nuny years been practically the only 

 centre in the I'nited Kingdom where castor oil is dealt with. 

 The great expansion of the aeroplane industry has resulted 

 in a greatly increased demand for castor oil for lubricant 

 purpo.ses, because it has the special advantage of not freezing 

 at low temperatures. Its value therefore in the high 

 altitudes to which aeroplanes soar is obvious. 



I'P to the present, India has been the largest producer 

 of castor seed in the world, its export of seed being estimated 

 at 100,000 tons annually, together with I'.OOd.OOO gallons of 

 oil. Now, however, attention is being given to the cultiv- 

 ation of the seed in other places. Since the entry of the 

 L'niled States into the war, with the programme of building 

 an enormous number of aeroplanes for military purposes, 

 there has been a necessity of providing a sufficient supply of 

 castor oil for their use. It is said that in some of the 

 western States, where the seed has been already cultivated, 

 there has been no less than 100,000 additional acres put 

 under this crop. 



Attention is also being paid to the possibilities of castor 

 oil cultivation in these West Indian islands. The Agricul- 

 tural Department of Trinidad has published information with 

 regard to this subject, and the notice of agriculturists in 

 Jamaica has also been driwn in several issues of the/airita/ 

 iif the fnmaica Aiiriciiltural Society to the possibilities of 

 the remunerative nature of the crop. 



The Rcvista c/f .l^ri<-ii//i/ni, February 1918, which is the 

 official or^an of the Department of Agriculture, Santo Dom- 

 ingo, has an article strongly advising the cultivation of castor 

 oil plants in that republic. The writer of the article recom- 

 mends the Indian or Hombay variety of the plant as being 

 the best suited to local conditions, and gives instructions for 

 its sowing and culture. He estimates that, with the present 

 prices, the net profit per hectare from an average yield 

 would amount to about f^'lW, equivalent to about !*+0 per 

 acre. 



It must also be remembered that under the auspices of the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture experiments with this 

 crop were made some years ago in Antigua. At that time 

 it did not seem to hold out any prospects of being sutHcieutiy 

 remunerative to cause the cultivation to b3 taken up to any 

 extent. The price then was not more than £12 per ton. 

 The present market price is about £3-2 per ton, and seems 

 likely to rise. The question therefore may deserve re- 

 consideration in some of these smaller islands where 

 the plant crrtainly nourishes. Could the seeds be dealt 

 with locally for the extraction of the oil, the residue 

 micbt be utilized as a fertilizer of considerable value. 

 It cannot howevt-r be used as a cattle food. It might 

 be possible for the piesent factorie- extracting cottonseed 

 oil to utilize their machinery for the production of castor- 

 seed oil during tho pat of the year when their machinery- 

 perforce lies idle. 



