FRUIT, PRESERVATION OF. 



FRUIT-TRADE. 



220 



into open shelves, communicates none of its flavour to the fruit, yet 

 when supporting a close bell-glass, strongly taints whatever fruit is 

 placed in it, by the confined and accumulating exhalation. 12. Buried 

 in a box placed on four bricks, under another box inverted, in an 

 excavation so deep that the upper portion of the fruit may be 1 J or 2 

 feet below the surface of the earth. 13. In threshed grain, or in corn 

 stacks. 14. Reposing on wheat straw, with or without a covering of 

 the same. 15. In chaff of wheat or oats. 16. In flax-seed chaff. 17. In 

 powdered charcoal ; this, if it cannot prevent, will in no degree con- 

 tribute to decay, either internally or externally. It is the substance 

 in which the imported Newtown pippins are frequently packed, and 

 they would arrive much sounder than they do were it not for the 

 bruises they evidently appear to have received previous to exportation. 

 18. In dried fern leaves. 



Amongst so great a variety of modes, it Is obviously of considerable 

 importance to ascertain not only which are the best, but which ex- 

 perience has proved to be the worst. This inquiry is most advan- 

 tageously pursued by settling in the first instance what the circum- 

 stances are that have been universally found detrimental to the 

 preservation of fruits. As was remarked when mentioning the sixth 

 - atmospheric changes have very great, if not the most powerful 

 influences ; firstly, us regards their caloric effects, and secondly, their 

 hygrometrical. In the former respect, the expansion and condensation 

 occasioned by the rise and fall of temperature must work a change in 

 the state of the juices, doubtless often at variance with the gradual 

 ih. liiieal change which these juices naturally undergo; hence, those 

 fruits that are most exposed to vicissitudes of temperature are found 

 to be most apt to fail in attaining their full sugary mellow perfection. 

 Again, when warm weather suddenly succeeds cold, the air in the 

 room is of a higher temperature than the fruit, until such time as the 

 latter acquire from the former an equality of temperature ; and until 

 such time as this takes place, the fruit, from its coldness, acts as a 

 condenser of the vapour existing in the warmer atmosphere by which 

 it is surrounded, and the surface consequently becomes covered with a 

 great deposition of moisture, as will be the case with a glass filled with 

 water colder than the atmosphere of a room into which it is brought. 

 The more smooth and glossy the variety of apple or pear, the greater 

 is the condensation on its surface. Russeted apples and pears exhil >it 

 the least effects in thia way, their rough dry coat being in less imme- 

 diate contact with the cold juices of the fruit. 



From the above it is sufficiently evident that variations in the state 

 of the atmosphere, as regards its temperature, have inj urious effects by 

 the expansion and condensation of the juices, and by the deposition of 

 moisture on the surface, partly owing to atmospheric humidity, but 

 chiefly to the circumstance of the latter being condensed upon the 

 fruit, as above explained. This deposition of moisture tends to decom- 

 pose the skin, and to render it less efficacious as a protector. It there- 

 fore follows, tliat where fruit is not kept closely packed, it should be 

 exposed to as little change of temperature as possible, and should also 

 be preserved from the full effects of an atmosphere saturated with 

 moisture. If a circulation of air could be secured of a uniform tem- 

 perature and dryness, or nearly so, there is no doubt as to the supe- 

 riority of flavour which the fruit would acquire. The watery particles 

 Mould exhale, and at the same time shrivelling would not take place 

 to any great extent, for this chiefly occurs in consequence of expansion 

 and contraction, and alternate moisture and dryness of the surface, the 

 results of irregularities in the state of the atmosphere. It may be 

 here observed, that wiping the fruit is injurious. The skins of fruits 

 are more or less covered with a secretion, technically called the lloom, 

 which every one will have observed on grapes and plums, on both of 

 which it is very conspicuous, and although less so on apples and pears, 

 yet it does exist on them, and its use is to protect, in a great measure, 

 the skin from the effects of moisture. Some fruitgrowers are so H- II 

 aware of this that they will not even handle their most choice wall- 

 gears in gathering, except by the stalk. 



STHght is found to be injurious; all agree that fruit keeps beat in 

 This arises from a specific stimulus being exercised 

 \ipon the vegetable tissue by this agent. If a leaf, a green branch, or 

 such a green surface as that of an apple or pear be exposed to light, 

 even in the most diffused state, evaporation takes place ; but as soon 

 as the stimulus of light id withdrawn, evaporation ceases. Speaking of 



}>lants in general, evaporation from the green parts takes place all day 

 ong and ceases at night. 



The preceding observations will explain the reason why a fruit-room 

 is best in a dry situation, on the north side of a wall or other building 

 where the sun's heat will not readily disturb the temperature. The 

 roof should be double, and the walls hollow; the windows small. 

 There should be a full command of ventilation ; but the room should 

 also be capable of being entirely shut up. 



Ventilation should be used only when the air, owing to the exhala- 



from^the fruit, is not perfectly sweet ; when this is not the case, 



air must be admitted in whatever condition it may happen to be; but 



it would be most desirable to admit air copiously only when it is nf an 



equal temperature teith that of the interior of the r<x,m. The latter 



I 1"; in two c>r three compartments, in order to keep the late 



sorts entirely free from the contaminating effects of exhalations of 



fruit in a fully ripe state. 



Tlie.-;e being the conditions under which the ripening, decay, and 

 AllTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. VI. 



preservation of apples and pears always take place, the reader will 

 have no difficulty in judging of the relative advantages of the 18 methods 

 already named. It is obvious that Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, are plans in 

 which the circumstances essential to the preservation of fruit are nearly 

 completely complied with. Nos. 8, 11, 14, 15, and 16, are bad, either 

 because of the liability of the material in which they are packed to 

 decomposition, by which the fruit acquires a tainted musty taste, or 

 because they can only be applied on a very small scale. Nos. 9 and 1 2 

 are chiefly objectionable because, owing to the almost total absence of 

 evaporation, the fruit, although well preserved and plump, is apt to be 

 watery and tasteless. No. 17 is a troublesome and dirty practice ; 

 Nos. 13 and 18 are excellent when opportunity occurs of practising 

 them ; but No. 10, in dark but airy vaults, is undoubtedly that which 

 most completely complies with the conditions necessary for preser- 

 vation, and is much the best. We have known apples, that are usually 

 decayed in February, preserved till Midsummer in this manner, in all 

 their freshness and colour, and nearly all their flavour. 



With regard to nuts and walnuts, the only precaution that it is 

 necessary to take for their preservation is to maintain the air in which 

 they are placed in a constant state of moisture. Burying in the earth, 

 placing in a damp cellar, mixing with damp sand, and many such plans 

 have been recommended ; but they are all objectionable, either because 

 they keep the fruit too moist, or do not offer any impediment to its 

 becoming mouldy. We believe the best of all plans is to pack them in 

 glazed earthen jars, throwing a small quantity of salt on the last layer 

 before the jar is closed. 



Apples and pears dried in ovens may be preserved for years. Bosc 

 states that he has tried the latter, after three years' preservation, and 

 found them still good ; but they are best during the first year. They 

 are placed in the oven after the bread is drawn. The process is re- 

 peated a second, third, or fourth time, according as the size or nature 

 of the fruit may require. The heat must not be so great as to scorch, 

 nor must the fruit be dried to hardness. When properly done, they 

 are kept in a dry place. Another method, chiefly practised on khe 

 rousselets, and of these the rousselet de Rheirns is the best for the 

 purpose, is to gather the fruit a little before maturity ; after being 

 half boiled in a small quantity of water, they are peeled and drained. 

 They are then placed in the oven, and heated to a suitable degree, for 

 twelve hours. They are then steeped in syrup, to which have been 

 added brandy, cinnamon, and cloves. They are again returned to the 

 oven, which is heated to a less degree than at first : this operation is 

 thrice repeated. 



The flattened dried apples, called beaufins, so abundant in the London 

 shops, are, as stated above, prepared in Norfolk, from a variety of 

 apple called the Norfolk beaufin : it has a thick skin, which resists, 

 without bursting, the heavy pressure to which the apples are subjected 

 in the oven, during the slow and lengthened process of drying. 



FRUIT-TRADE. This trade, as far as printed returns can show, 

 is necessarily confined to foreign produce. Almost all the fruit grown 

 at home is consumed at home. Our orchards and market fruit- 

 gardens, however large, yield no surplus produce for us to sell to the 

 foreigner ; nor, indeed, could we sell it at a price that would yield 

 an adequate profit after defraying the cost of carriage. Nor have we 

 any means of knowing how much fruit is grown and eaten in England ; 

 the orchard-keepers and fruit-growers are not required to render to 

 any one an account of the amount of their trade. Occasionally at- 

 tempts are made to estimate these quantities. Some years ago, Mr. 

 H. Mayhew, in the 'Morning Chronicle,' gave a tabulation which 

 professed to be an account of all the fruit sold at Covent Garden 

 Market in one year. Mr. Braithwaite Poole, goods'-manager on the 

 greatest of our railways, presented an estimate of the quantity of 

 fruit sold in all the markets of the metropolis in 1850, comprising 

 such items as 17,000 tons of apples, 9000 tons of pears, 7000 tons of 

 gooseberries, 4500 tons of plums, 4000 tons of currants, 1000 tons of 

 damsons, 900 tons of cherries, 700 tons of strawberries, 230 tons of 

 filberts, 230 tons of hazel-nuts, 50 tons of mulberries, and so forth. 

 In so far are these estimates are reliable, they give a curious insight 

 into the vast dealings and consumption of the metropolis ; but they do 

 not afford safe data for any inferences concerning the United Kingdom 

 at large. 



We will select 1856 as a year to illustrate the extent of the foreign 

 fruit-trade ; not because it was the latest available, but because it 

 affords a pretty fair average of recent years. The imports of foreign 

 fruits, in kinds and quantities, in the above-mentioned year, were : 



Almonds, sweet 

 bitter . 



Apples, raw . 

 dried 



Currants, dried 



Fit's, dried 



Grapes . . 



Chestnuts 



34,000 cwts. 



9,000 

 530,000 bushels 



2,000 

 350,000 cwts. 

 44,000 

 12,000 bushels 

 07,000 



Cocoa nuts 1,880,000 No. 



l nuts 

 Walnuts 

 Ornnfies and l 

 Pears . 

 I'lnnu - 



2 IS, 000 bushels 



66,000 

 690,000 

 22,000 

 3,500 cwts. 

 Q 



