PRESERVING FRUITS, FRESH FOR WINTER USE. 



351 



of the foreign Grapes, accustomed to live I " on their own bottoms," should be allowed 

 in glass houses, who had been caught by to settle in any of the new states or terri- 

 the Crab Apples stoning the windows, and [ tories, when that old favorite, the Virga- 

 sticking their spurs (they were short pruned lieu Pear, made a soothing speech, in his 

 vines,) into some patient looking old Horse usual melting and buttery manner, which 

 Apples from the western states. A free- brought all the meeting to a feeling of 



soiler, who was known as the Northern 

 Spy, was about to sow the seeds of the ap- 

 ple of discord in the convention, by bring- 

 ing forward an amendment, that no foreign 

 fruits, and especially none which were not 



unanimity again ; when they resolved to 

 postpone further action, but to prepare a 

 memorial on the subject, to be laid before 

 the Congress of Fruit-growers, at its meet- 

 inn- next fall in Cincinnati. 



PRESERVING FRUITS, FRESH FOR WINTER USE. 



BY W., BALTIMORE. 



[We commend the following to the memo- 

 randum books of those of our readers who 

 aim at the choicest results of domestic 

 economy and housekeeping. We have 

 tasted peaches in mid-winter, preserved at 

 Baltimore, after this method, which, cut up 

 •and served with cream at the dessert, were 

 almost undistinguishable in appearance and 

 fresbness of taste from August rareripes 

 fresh from the tree. We are assured the 

 same results are obtained with strawber- 

 ries, apricots, plums, &c, which are now 

 extensively prepared in this way for mar- 

 ket. As the process is a very simple one, 

 we do not see why this mode of preserving 

 the fruit, with its natural flavor, should not 

 largely supersede the cloying preserves, 

 made with sugar. Ed.] 



Dear Sir — In answer to your queries, 

 regarding the mode of preserving fruits 

 practiced in this city, I send you the follow- 

 ing, a.s that after which the specimens you 

 tasted were prepared : 



Send to year tinsmith and get a suffi- 

 cient number of tin canisters, very carefully 

 and tightly made. They should be of uni- 

 form size ; and the shape preferred here is 



seven inches high by five inches in diame- 

 ter — uniform cylinders. 



Select the fairest fruit, — peaches, straw- 

 berries, or what you please. It should be 

 just ripe, but not past the mature stage. 

 Fill the canisters, place the tin lids on their 

 tops, and solder them down very carefully. 

 Only a small hole, of the size of a pin. 

 should be left for the escape of air. 



The next point is to drive the air out of 

 the canisters of fruit, to prevent its decay. 

 In order to do this, take a broad boiler-pan. 

 (with a flat bottom,) place the canisters in 

 it, and fill it with boiling water within 

 about three-fourths of an inch of the tops 

 of the canisters. The boiler being over a 

 gentle fire, the water in it should now be 

 made to boil. This will drive the air in 

 each canister through the small hole left in 

 the top, as soon as the temperature ap- 

 proaches 200°; and in order to know pre- 

 cisely when it is all expelled, you must 

 drop a few drops of water upon this hole. 

 When the bubbles of air cease rising 

 through these drops of water, the air is all 

 expelled, and then you may pass a dry 

 cloth over the hole and let a drop of solder 



