CHAPTER XXIII 

 Bottling Fruit 



THE practice of bottling fruit is one of considerable importance 

 to every possessor of a fruit garden, for by this means he is 

 enabled to prevent waste and to preserve the surplus for future 

 use. There are many ways of preserving fruit in bottles, but 

 all are similar in principle, though they vary in detail. 



Simple Recipes. Fruit to be bottled ought to be perfectly 

 sound and not too ripe ; further, it must be handled carefully 

 BO as to avoid bruising. Ordinary wide-mouthed bottles are 

 suitable. Probably the simplest of all methods is to fill the 

 bottles with fruit pressed down firmly, and to pour boiling 

 water on them until the bottles are filled to within an inch of 

 the top. Hot melted mutton fat, to the depth of half an inch, 

 is then poured on. When the bottles of fruit are cool, covers, 

 preferably of bladder, are tied tightly over them. 



Another plan is to place the bottles of fruit in a warm oven, 

 and leave them there until the fruits begin to crack, which may 

 take half an hour or more, according to the heat of the oven. 

 It is important to take care that the bottles do not touch each 

 other. The bottles are taken out of the oven, and boiling syrup 

 is poured in until it reaches to within about an inch of the tops 

 of the bottles. Then comes a layer of melted mutton fat. When 

 cool, the bottles are covered with bladder covers tied down tightly, 

 and are stored. The syrup is made by mixing sugar in boiling 

 water at the rate of half a pound of sugar to a quart of water, 

 the solution then being brought , to boiling point ; this ought 

 to be done while the fruits are in the oven, so that it may be ready 

 for use as soon as required. 



Still another plan is to pour cold syrup on the fruits when 

 the bottles are full, and then to place the bottles in a large pan 

 containing sufficient depth of water to reach to the necks. The 

 pan is placed on the stove and allowed to remain there until the 

 water boils. It is then removed and subsequently the bottles 



122 



