472 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



PREPARATION OF GRAPE JUICE. 



^^|ACH year, as the grape season ap- 

 proaches, we are asked how to put up 

 grape juice for family use. Several 

 readers have given their methods, but it 

 seems well to repeat former instructions. In 

 proceeding, use only clean, well-ripened 

 grapes. I prefer expressing the juice in an 

 ordinary hand cider mill (same as making 

 cider) by grinding the grapes. The ad- 

 vantage is you get the juice at once and that 

 which is expressed by grinding is clear and 

 retains so little foreign matter or pomace. 

 It may, by careful straining through double 

 thickness light flannel, be immediately bot- 

 tled, while that obtained from pressing the 

 skins, pulp, seeds, etc., will require, besides 

 straining, a little time to precipitate a sedi- 

 rhent resulting from pressing. I sometimes 

 filter through a few inches of clean washed 

 river or creek sand. The sooner, however, 

 it can be bottled and corked the less fer- 

 mentation and the more of the peculiar 

 grape aroma may be retained. Whereas, if 

 the grapes are crushed in a tub or barrel I 

 find it difficult or impossible to express the 

 juice until fermentation dissolves the pulp. 



Pears, says the Fruit Grower, have been 

 a good crop in North Kent, England, this 

 season. There is not, however, a very con- 

 siderable area under this fruit, particularly 

 ot the large and heavy sorts. This seems 

 to be an oversight in some respects, as the 

 soil and climate are apparently suitable for 

 the cultivation and successful ripening of 

 such good kinds as Louise Bonne, Pitmas- 

 ton Duchess, Williams and others. By far 

 the largest number of trees consists of 

 Hazels. Very large gatherings have been 

 made of these small pears in places. Except 

 when they are placed in a very exposed pos- 

 ition, they stand well on the trees. As 

 much as five and six bushels have been 

 taken from individual trees, the gatherings 

 from two trees in one instance working out 

 at the total of i2j^2 bushels. The price 



thereby losing much of the grape flavor, but 

 the fermentation cuts no figure in the keeping 

 qualities, as 1 sometimes, for variety, let 

 some ferment to a certain flavor, when I 

 heat and seal it with the assurance that when 

 opened in the months, or years following, the 

 same flavor will prevail. I use the ordinary 

 wine and beer bottles — carefully wash and 

 drain them, fill to within about three inches 

 of the top. Set in ordinary wash boiler on 

 the stove ; put an inch of sand on the bottom 

 or fit a thin board over the bottom to pre- 

 vent the bottom of bottles overheating to 

 break or give the juice a cooked flavor ; fill 

 the boiler with bottles as close as they will 

 stand without crowding and fill the boiler 

 with cold water within about four inches of 

 the top of the bottles. Lay on the lid and 

 start the fire. Bring the water slowly to a 

 distinct simmer, but in no instance allow it 

 to come to a boil, as this, too, will cook the 

 juice. Have your corks steaming. I use a 

 one-quart fruit can ; fill half full of water 

 and put in the corks, lay on the cap, set 

 along the boiler to heat and steam while 

 bottles are heatinef. — Green s Fruit Grower. 



now being realized is from 3s. to 3s. 6d. per 

 bushel. Evidently a long dry season is 

 suitable for this fruit. Williams, in some 

 instances, have returned 8s. per bushel. 

 With the close of the apple gathering 

 now just at hand, the tendency of the 

 market has much improved. This probably 

 is due to the fact that the fruits remaining 

 on the trees after the severe gales were 

 limited in quantity ; in fact, only those trees 

 which stand in exceptionally sheltered pos- 

 itions escaped with any appreciable quantity 

 of fruit left on them, the bulk of the crop 

 being marketed as windfalls. Good apples 

 have realized 5s. per bushel. Drops are 

 still at a low figure, and some growers have 

 yet a stock of them in their store rooms 

 which they are marketing a {q.v^ bushels at 

 a time. 



