Curing, Storing and Preserving. 



APPLES, to Keep — The following is a 

 good plan : The apples should be placed 

 in glazed earthen vessels, each containing 

 about a gallon, and surrounding the fruit 

 with paper. The vessels being perfect 

 cylinders, about a foot each in height, 

 stand very conveniently upon each other, 

 and thus present the means of preserving 

 a large quantity of fruit in a very small 

 room. If the space between the top of 

 one vessel and the base of another be 

 filled with cement, composed of two 

 parts of the curd of skimmed milk and 

 one of lime, by which the air will be ex- 

 cluded, the latter kind of apples will be 

 preserved with little change in their ap- 

 pearance from October to March. A 

 dry and cold place in which there is little 

 change of temperature is the best. 



APPLES, to Dry.— The most general 

 method adopted in drying apples is, after 

 they are pared, to cut them in slices, and 

 spread them on cloths, tables or boards, 

 and then dry them out-doors. In clear 

 and dry weather this is, perhaps, the most 

 expeditious and best way ; but in cloudy 

 and stormy weather this way is attended 

 with much inconvenience, and sometimes 

 loss, in consequence of the apples rotting 

 before they dry. To some extent they 

 may be dried in this way in the house, 

 though this is attended with much incon- 

 venience. The best method that we have 

 ever used to dry apples is to use frames. 

 These combine the most advantages with 

 the least inconvenience of any way, and 

 can be used with equal advantage either 

 in drying in the house or out in the sun. 

 In pleasant weather, the frames can be set 

 out-doors against the side of the building, 

 or any other support, and at night, or in 

 cloudy and stormy days, they can be 

 brought into the house, and set against 

 the side of the room near the stove or 

 fire-place. Frames are made in the fol- 



lowing manner: Two strips of board, 7 

 feet long, 2 or 2*4 inches wide — two 

 strips 3 feet long, i*4 inches wide, the 

 whole 2^ °f an i ncn thick — nail the snort 

 strips across the ends of the long ones, 

 and it makes a frame 7 by 3 feet, which 

 is a convenient size for all purposes. On 

 one of the long strips nails are driven 3 

 inches apart, extending from the top to 

 the bottom. After the apples are pared 

 they are quartered and cored, and with a 

 needle and twine, or stout thread strung 

 into lengths long enough to reach twice 

 across the frame ; the ends of the twine 

 aie then tied together, and the strings 

 hung on the nails across the frame. The 

 apples will soon dry so that the strings can 

 be doubled on the nails, and fresh ones 

 put on or the whole of them removed, 

 and others put in their place. As fast as- 

 the apples become sufficiently dry, they 

 can be taken from the strings, and the 

 same strings used to dry more on. If 

 large apples are used to dry, they can be 

 cut in smaller pieces. Pears and quinces, 

 and other fruits that can be strung, may 

 be dried in this way. 



APPLES, to Pack in Barrels. — When 

 the farmers find out that the manner of 

 packing apples in barrels greatly influ- 

 ences the price of the same, they will 

 take more care than they usually do. A 

 neatly packed barrel will bring from one 

 to two dollars more than one that the ap- 

 ples are thrown in without any effort to 

 make a good show. When you begin to 

 pack the barrel turn it upside down, the 

 head resting on the ground or floor, then 

 take the bottom out, leaving the head in. 

 Then choose about a peck of your pret- 

 tiest and finest apples : wipe them clean, 

 being certain that there are no spots on 

 them, or in any other manner disfigured ; 

 then place them in the barrel with their 

 stems down, first placing them around the 



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