376 VINEGAR, CIDER, AND FRUIT-WINES. 



of the early and late Crawford* varieties, and the apricots Moor- 

 parks. Among plums we find the following varieties : Washing- 

 ton, Columbia, Reine Claude, Coe's golden drop, yellow gage. 

 Royal Ann is the favorite variety of cherries, though the differ- 

 ent varieties of Bigareans and the black Tartarian heart-cherry 

 are also used. Muscat, Muscat Alexandria, and Malaga are the 

 favorite varieties of grapes. Among apples the Newtown pippin 

 is pre-eminent ; it is considered one of the finest apples in this 

 country. Several varieties of pears are highly esteemed in the 

 Eastern States for canning purposes, but in California the Bart- 

 lett pear is almost exclusively used. With this pear the Califor- 

 nian packers say they have conquered the foreign markets, and 

 they will not risk their reputation by abandoning it. 



Next to the variety of fruit the cans are of the greatest import- 

 ance. Much has been said and written in regard to them, and 

 the discussion pro and con will very likely be continued until a 

 new and important improvement is discovered. And it is actu- 

 ally necessary that the inventors should set their wits to work 

 for the production of a can which would overcome all complaints, 

 as thereby they could create a beneficial revolution in the fruit 

 industry. The well-known patent cans are excluded from use on 

 a large scale on account of their high price. Glass jars have some 

 advantages : they are comparatively cheap, allow of an inspection 

 of their contents, and the ready recognition of a leak, and are not 

 attacked by the vegetable acid. But, nevertheless, they have not 

 been introduced into general use because they are liable to break, 

 and, being heavy, increase the cost of transportation, and, finally, 

 it is difficult to close them air-tight. The sealing of a bottle with 

 a narrow mouth is quite a different thing from sealing one with an 

 aperture three inches in diameter. It may do for pickles, marma- 

 lade, or jelly, but for preserved fruits which are to be transported 

 long distances it cannot be depended on. The same objections 

 may be made to stoneware jars, which possess the further disad- 

 vantage that their contents cannot be inspected and a leak is dif- 

 ficult to discover. Nevertheless, they are used by some large 

 English factories for the reason, it is claimed, of keeping their 



* The name given to each fruit is the recognized name of the American 

 Pomological Society as far as recorded in their catalogue. 



