THE GENESEE FARMER. 



«1« 



All nitrogenous compounds, undor favorable cir- 

 curastanccs, not only undergo rapid fermentation 

 themselves, but have the power of disturbing the ele- 

 ments of non-nitrogenous bodies with which they 

 are ia contact. 



A compact and insoluble nitrogenous substance is 

 not as liable to ferment, or to induce fermentation in 

 other bodies, as one which is porous and soluble. 



Heat renders many nitrogenous substances more 

 compact, and otherwise retards fermentation. For 

 instance, fresh milk soon curdles in a warm room; its 

 nitrogenous ingredient, caseine, or curd, absorbs oxy- 

 gen from the air and ferments, and in this state 

 rapidly converts the sugar of milk into lactic acid. 

 This acid neutralizes the soda which holds the caseine 

 in solution, and the milk becomes curdled. Now, it 

 is well known that if milk is boiled, it will keep sweet 

 much longer. In fact, if milk is boiled every day, it 

 may be kept sweet for an indefinite period. 



AH fruits contain a nitrogenous substance, gener- 

 ally albumen (the white of egg) or gluten. In a 

 perfect fruit, this is separated from the sugar, starch, 

 gum, and other non-fermenting ingredients of the fruit 

 by cellular matter. In compact fruits, too, such as 

 the apple and pear, the skin protects the albumen 

 from the atmosphere to some extent, and it is, there- 

 fore, but slowly decomposed. Crush the apple, and 

 the albumen, being brought in direct contact with 

 the atmosphere and with the sugar, rapidly absorbs 

 oxygen, and induces decomposition. The porous 

 fruits, such as the strawbeny and raspberry, have 

 little ce Ilular matter or skin to protect the albumen 

 from the air, and hence, though the fruit remains in- 

 tact, decomposition soon sets in. In the former case. 

 Nature partially excludes the air, and thus the preser- 

 vation of the fruit is easy; in the latter, the air must 

 be excluded by artificial means, and hence the preser- 

 vation of the fruit is attended with considerable dif- 

 ficulty. 



The oxygen of the air is undoubtedly the exciting 

 cause of decomposition; but it would appear that, 

 under certain circumstances, when the albuminous 

 matter of the fruit has commenced to decay, the ex- 

 clusion of atmospheric air does not completely arrest 

 it — probably the water of the fruit is decomposed, 

 and thus furnishes oxygen. To preserve fruit, there- 

 fore, we must not only exclude atmospheric air, but 

 must arrest decomposition before the fruit is sealed up. 

 The only practical ivay of doing this, is by the ap- 

 pliciition of heat. This fact has been generally over 

 looked by writers on this subject. Couverchel 

 made numerous experiments on the preservation of 

 fruits in vacuo and in nitrogen, and the results led 

 him to the conclusion that " the taste of fruits can- 

 not, under any circumstances, be preserved." Mul- 

 der, another eminent chemist, is of the same opinion, 

 and says : •' Apples, sent from Holland to India, 

 packed in vessels free of air, became perfectly taste- 

 less, although not a trace of putrefaction could be 

 perceived." The fact that gooseberries, currants, 

 cherries, peaches, and other fruits, have been pre- 

 served without sugar by expelling the air from the 

 vessels containing them, and which retained their 

 flavor but little if any impaired, cannot be doubted. 

 The failure of these chemical experimenis is attributa- 

 ble, in all probabilit}', to the cause we have alluded 

 to. It is essential to cook the fruit sufficiently to ar- 

 rest all decay, and to coagulate the albumen before 

 the viess^ls are sealed. . 



A lady who has had considerable success in pre- 

 serving cherries without sugar, has kindly furnished 

 us the following recipe: "Take the common red 

 cherries, and remove the stones. I'ut them in wide- 

 mouthed, light glass bottles. Then set the bot- 

 tles in a boiler of cold water, within an inch or 

 so of the neck. Let them boil from fifteen to 

 twenty minutes. Put the corks in the bottles as 

 tightly as possible, while the water is boiling. Then 

 take out the bottles, tighten the corks, and seal them 

 with a wax made of equal quantities of rosin and 

 beeswax." 



This method has proved quite satisfactory. The 

 rationale of the process will be readily perceived. 

 The heat coagulates the albumen of the fruit, and 

 arrests all change which may have taken place by the 

 absorption of oxygen, and at the same time expels 

 the ?,ir from the bottles. The corks, being put in 

 while the bottles are filled with steam, and quickly 

 tightened and sealed, effectually exclude the air, and 

 with it all exciting cause of fermentation. The rea- 

 son why the bottles are placed in cold water, is to 

 prevent them from breaking. If tin cans are used, 

 there will be no need of this precaution. Sometimes, 

 too, the bottles break after being taken out of the 

 water, and it is advisable to wrap a cloth around 

 them for a few minutes. 



Green gooseberries and currants may be preserved 

 in the same way, except that they do not need so 

 much boiling. If the bottles are heated sufficiently 

 to drive out most of the air by expansion, and care- 

 fully corked and sealed while hot, nothing more will 

 be required. In fact, they are sometimes kept by 

 simply putting them in tightly sealed bottles, without 

 any boiling. In this case, the gooseberries, not being 

 ripe, absorb the oxygen from the small quantity of air 

 in the bottles without injury. If the bottles, after be- 

 ing sealed, are placed in hot water for a few minutes, 

 this absorption of oxygen takes place much more 

 rapidly, with the formation of carbonic acid. Unless 

 the fruit is quite green, the former method is un- 

 doubtedly the best. 



Green peas can be preserved in the same manner 

 as gooseberries and currants. 



In England, green gooseberries are frequently pre- 

 served by placing them, when dry, in a stone jar or 

 other vessel, and burying it in the soil, below the 

 reach of frost. 



MuLCHixG. — In our dry, hot climate, reQlching is 

 of great benefit to all garden crops on light, sandy 

 soils. Its effect is to check evaporation, and keep 

 the soil moist. Spent tan-bark is probably the best 

 of mulches, but sawdust, chip manure, peat, coal 

 aslies, &c., answer a very good purpose. All recent- 

 ly transplanted trees are much benefitted by mulch- 

 ing on such soils. Strawberries are greatly improved, 

 and the necessity of weeding obviated, if the mulch 

 is thick enough — as it should be — to smother the 

 weeds. Mulching is the best preventive of mildew 

 on the gooseberry yet discovered. 



On rather heavy, retentive loams, mulching is also 

 beneficial, but a different mode of application is de- 

 sirable. We should mnlch with the soil itself. li> 

 other words, stir constantly the surface soil with th© 

 hoe or forls;, three or four inches deep, and it will be 

 the best of mulching, not only retarding evaporatioa^ 

 but drawing fertilizing gases aud water froia tits aV 

 mo3phere. 



