THE PRUNE 37 



Not unlikely the discovery was made al- 

 together by accident. 



Many of us can recall that in our boyhood 

 days it was customary in New England to make 

 lye for use in the manufacture of soft soap by 

 percolating water through barrels filled with 

 wood ashes. The lye thus made is closely similar 

 in composition to the fluid that is now used in 

 preparing the prune. It seems a reasonable con- 

 jecture that the discovery of its value in this con- 

 nection may have resulted from observation that 

 plums which chanced to drop into a bucket of 

 lye, when removed and thrown aside were more 

 resistant to decay and dried sooner than other 

 plums. 



Such a chance observation would have sufficed 

 to give the clue to some ingenious person, and 

 the value of lye as an aid in making the plum 

 into a dried fruit would thus come to be under- 

 stood. 



But whether or not this was the manner of 

 discovery, the fact remains that the lye bath is 

 an essential part of the process of curing the 

 prune. Therefore the quality of skin that adapts 

 the fruit to respond properly to this treat- 

 ment is one of the absolute essentials that 

 the fruit developer must have constantly in 

 mind. 



