7^6 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



(d) Spices are antiseptic and are added to foods to prevent putre- 

 faction. Mince meat is a good example of this. The apples and meat 

 would putrefy very quickly were it not for the spices and boiled cider 

 added to prevent it. We add sage and spices to sausage for the same 

 purpQse, while fruit cake is kept for a long time by this means. Hops 

 not only give a nutty flavor to bread and food in which they are used, 

 but also exert .a slightly antiseptic action. 



Canning keeps fruit or vegetables free from all bacterial growth be- 

 cause it first destroys all life present and then provides for complete 

 exclusion of further organisms. As bacteria are found in utensils, in 

 the air and in the water, and all food materials contain them, we first 

 destroy the bacteria by boiling the food and then seal the can, which 

 has been thoroughly sterilized in order to prevent access to the can. 

 The housekeeper has learned that a single bacterium in a can is sufiicient 

 to destroy the entire contents. Formerly she might have said, " I do 

 mot lose many cans of fruit in a year." With her present knowledge of 

 the necessity for complete sterilization she may say. " I never lose a can 

 of fruit." This is possible only by thorough sterilization and hermetic- 

 ally sealing of receptacles. Some articles of food have to be cooked 

 for a long time before being completely sterilized because they contain 

 spores which may resist ordinary boiling. Most failures in canning are 

 due to insufficient heat or to the failure to sterilize all of rhc utensils 

 used, thus leaving spores which developing later will spoil the material. 

 Spores get in accidentally. It is necessary to prevent the raising of dust, 

 and to avoid the use of cloths or utensils ^which are not thoroughly 

 cleansed. Persons will give themselves much concern in sterilizing fruit 

 and jars and then wipe out the clean jar with a dish cloth, or let their 

 fingers come iai contact with the inside of the jar. Everything which 

 comes in contact with fruit or receptacle should not only be clean but be 

 sterile. The cans must be sealed while still hot so as to sterilize any air 

 present ; new rubber rings should be used each year, as they need to be 

 soft and elastic, and they should be heated in water before use. In fac- 

 tories, sterilization can be accomplished much more thoroughly because 

 there is equipment to produce sterilization under pressure. Never is the 

 housekeeper more conscious of the necessity of exact laboratory prin- 

 ciples than when she is canning her fruit, and it is a piece of work to be 

 proud of when s'he does it with the exactness of scientific principles. 



Disease Germs 

 Some micro-organisms are parasites which produce disease. They feed 

 upon living plants and animals. There are some micro-organisms which 



