CHAPTER XV 



Home Canning of Fruits and 

 Vegetables 



THE products of our own garden always taste better than fruit 

 which has been canned in the commercial establishments. We 

 have grown the fruit; it is ours and we like it. 



Science always tells us why we do a thing, and it is only by a 

 knowledge of why we do things that we get so that we can apply the 

 art of doing one thing to the art of doing another. As early as the 

 seventeenth century, persons began to know that it was very minute 

 plants and animals which caused the spoiling of fruits. These organ- 

 isms induce fermentation and putrefaction, and are of immense im- 

 portance. They are of three groups: First, molds, which appear as a 

 white, green or black furry growth; they are often present on the 

 vegetables at the time we can them. Secondly, we have the yeasts, 

 which are familiar to every housewife who makes bread. These little 

 "plants" are invisible to the naked eye and seem to like to get into 

 all substances which contain sugar. They are not usually there very 

 long before they cause the substances to become sour, the next stage 

 being the production of alcohol. The air is full of yeast, and it is al- 

 most always found on ripe fruit. The third class consists of bacteria. 

 When we realize that sometimes fifteen thousand of these pesky little 

 things can be placed end to end in an inch, we wonder how they can 

 do so much damage, but they are the hardest foes of canning we have 

 to fight. These very minute organisms have a power of producing very 

 resistant shelled spores, and they are sometimes not even injured by 

 cooking. If, however, after the first boiling, they remain for a short 

 time, they should soon start into growth; it is then that we kill them. 



PREPARATION FOR, CANNING. Every utensil which the house- 

 keeper uses, and every vegetable and all the sugar and the water, con- 

 tain some form of mold, yeast or bacteria. Our problem then is to 

 take all possible care that each of our three enemies is conquered. 



For absolute cleanliness the soil must be carefully washed from 

 the fruit; over-ripe fruit should never be used; bruised and cracked 

 fruit should be avoided, for it is in the bruises and cracks that the 

 yeast and molds are very prevalent. All jars and containers must be 

 thoroughly scalded with boiling water, 



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