THE PEACH. 283 



DRYING AND PRESERVING. 



Drying the fruit is usually performed most successfully 

 by artificial heat. Spent ovens on a small scale, and dry- 

 ing rooms, heated with stoves, fitted with shelves or draw- 

 ers, with lattice or lath bottoms, on a larger scale, are 

 most generally adopted. Drying in the open air, is suc- 

 cessful if the weather happens to be favorable ; but decay 

 and loss follows adverse weather. But the expense of arti- 

 ficial heat, and the failure from an unpropitious sky, may 

 both be avoided by planting for this purpose the earliest 

 ripening sorts, so that the whole work may be completed 

 during the hot, dry weather of summer, a month earlier 

 than the usual period. 



Preserving the Fresh Fruit. In Baltimore, and some 

 other places, the preservation of the more delicate fruits, 

 as peaches, apricots, and strawberries, in hermetically 

 sealed tin canisters, is carried on on a large scale ; and the 

 fruit at mid-winter is almost as good as when gathered. 

 The process is the same, in principle, as that by which 

 fresh meats are preserved for sea stores. For the substance 

 of the following account of the process, the author is indebt- 

 ed to THOMAS S. PLEASANTS, of Petersburgh, Va. 



The canisters should be perfectly air-tight, and the con- 

 tents heated throughout to the temperature of boiling water. 

 If the vessels are then hermetically sealed, it is impossible 

 for decomposition to take place, and therefore the most deli- 

 cate fruits may be preserved for an indefinite period. 



The process is minutely as follows : Prepare the canis- 

 ters in the best manner, of good tin about seven or eight 

 inches in length, and four to four and a half in diameter. 

 Whatever be the size, they should be uniform, that they 

 may be heated alike. The fruit selected should be just 

 ripe and no more, free from specks or bruises. When the 

 canisters are filled, the tops are to be carefully soldered on, 

 leaving a hole in them about the size of a small pin for the 

 escape of the air. They are then to be set in a vessel of 

 water, to be kept boiling moderately, until the temperature 

 of the fruit is raised to that of the water. The way in 

 which this is ascertained, is to put a drop of water on the 

 pin-hole, which will continue to bubble as long as the air 

 escapes from the canister. When the internal temperature 



