170 HORTICULTURIST'S RULE-BOOK. 



trimming closely and packing upright in moss inside of a 

 box. A large quantity of the vegetable may thus be stored 

 in a small space. 



Crystallized or Glac6 Fruit. The principle is to extract the 

 juice from the fruit and replace it with sugar syrup, which 

 hardens and preserves the fruit in its natural shape. The 

 fruit should be all of one size and of a uniform degree of 

 ripeness, such as is best for canning. Peaches, pears, and 

 similar fruits are pared and cut in halves ; plums, cherries, 

 etc., are pitted. After being properly prepared, the fruit 

 is put in a basket or bucket with a perforated bottom and 

 immersed in boiling water to dilute and extract the juice. 

 This is the most important part of the process, and requires 

 great skill. If the fruit be left too long, it is over-cooked 

 and becomes soft ; if not long enough, the juice is not suffi- 

 ciently extracted, and this prevents perfect absorption of 

 the sugar. After the fruit cools, it may again be assorted 

 as to softness. The syrup is made of white sugar and 

 water. The softer the fruit, the heavier the syrup required. 

 The fruit is placed in earthen pans, covered with syrup and 

 left about a week. This is a critical stage, as fermentation 

 will soon take place, and when this has reached a certain 

 stage the fruit and syrup are heated to the boiling-point, 

 which checks the fermentation. This is repeated, as often 

 as may be necessary, for about six weeks. The fruit is 

 taken out of the syrup, washed in clean water, and either 

 glacSd or crystallized, as desired. It is dipped in thick 

 syrup, and hardened quickly in the open air for glacing, 

 or left to be hardened slowly if to be crystallized. The 

 fruit is now ready for packing, and will keep in any 

 climate. 



Figs. After the figs are gathered and dried in the same way 

 as peaches or apricots, wash to remove all grit, and spread 

 in shallow pans and set them in the oven to become 

 thoroughly heated, taking care to prevent scorching. Then 

 roll in powdered sugar, which has been rolled to remove all 

 lumps. When cold, pack away, preferably in paper bags. 



