874 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



ci ed to crystallize and assume the usual granulated appearance. The 

 work is now finished. If properly done, the fruit thus preserved will 

 bear transportation to any climate and will keep, firm and unchanged, 

 i'or years. It is packed in light wooden or card-board boxes and may 

 be shipped in cases containing several hundred pounds each. 



USES OF THE SPENT SJRUP. 



During the process of impregnating the fruit with sugar the sirup in 

 which it. is immersed is gradually deteriorated by losing its sugar and 

 absorbing the juices of the fruit. It is finally utilized in the prepara- 

 tion of " confiture d'Apt," which is made of the soft overcooked and ir- 

 regular pieces of fruits of all kinds mixed in irregular proportion and 

 preserved in the spent sirup, which is boiled down to the required con- 

 sistency. This branch of manufacture, like many others, gives oppor- 

 tunities for sharp practice, particularly in the use of glucose in place of 

 pure sugar, and of certain chemicals, notably salicylic acid, which there 

 is reason to believe is employed to some extent by certain confectioners 

 to shorten and thereby cheapen the process of preservation. 



Salicine, the basis of this acid, is a flaky substance derived from the 

 bark of certain species of willow. It is used in medicine as a febrifuge, 

 two grains per day being regarded a safe allowance for adults. Sali- 

 cylic acid is made by the action of sulphuric acid, bichromate of pot- 

 ash, and water upon salicine. In just what degree salicylic acid is dele- 

 terious to health I am not informed, but it is the opinion of good judges 

 that its use in the preservation of fruits and wines should be prohibited 

 by law. It is a powerful antiseptic, and is for this reason used in the 

 mixing of wines and, as already indicated, in the fruit-crystallizing pro- 

 cess, to arrest and prevent the acetous fermentation of the juice, which 

 would otherwise spoil fruits which have been imperfectly prepared. 



As has been shown above, the process of eliminating the natural juices 

 of fruit and replacing them with sugar by immersion in sirup requires 

 about six weeks. By the use of salicylic acid, which penetrates the 

 pulp and exerts upon the juices an antiseptic influence which prevents 

 fermentation, this process can be reduced to a few days only. Time, 

 labor, and sugar are thereby saved, but naturally at the expense of 

 quality in the finished product. 



COST AND MARKET VALUES. 



The net cost of preserving fruit by this process varies, of course, with 

 the price of sugar, labor, interest on investment, etc., and this is more- 

 over a point upon which confectioners are not disposed to be communi- 

 cative. 



But with the facts at our disposal, the question of costs can be closely 

 approximated. Sugar costs lu-re this season, as already stated, 9.65 

 cents per pound, and fruit in condition for crystallizing on an average 



