CRYSTALLIZATION OF FRUIT IN FRANCE. 877 



Neither are the manufacturers usually disposed to furnish detailed 

 information concerning their business, and many obstacles lie in the 

 way of an investigation. 



I am enabled, however, to furnish a tolerably clear statement of the 

 various processes of the work, which, as a whole, is quite uniformly 

 practical whenever the labor is performed. 



WHITENING FRUITS. 



Mneh precaution is necessary to be taken to well preserve the fruit, 

 whether it be dry or watery, in order to obtain good results. 



Success depends largely upon the first act of bleaching. The bleach- 

 ing, or whitening, of the fruit must be regulated according to the quality 

 and maturity of it ; the water must not boil, must simmer only. 



It is well to choose each kind of fruit a few days before being ripe ; it 

 should be hard or firm and gathered in dry weather in the morning, and 

 whitened as much as possible the same day, for if too ripe it will fall in 

 marmalade; if not enough it can not be properly preserved, the pores will 

 become closed, and the sugar can not penetrate. The fruit will become 

 hard, acid, black, and moldy. It is necessary to place the fruit in a 

 considerable quantity of water to whiten it, that the water cover it at 

 least 8 inches, in order that there be no necessity to increase the quan- 

 tity during the process. In such a caso added water should be of the 

 same temperature. Cover the fruit with an osier screen or linen cloth, 

 and put about 4 inches from the bottom of the vessel a copper colander, 

 to prevent injury from the fire. Stir the fruit from time to time lightly, 

 with a skimmer, to aid the riper portion to rise. Usually the fruit is 

 whitened with the naked fire, but it is much easier to do it with steam, 

 because in that case it is not exposed to the danger of scorching, and 

 the degree of heat for the various kinds of fruit is easier regulated. 



M. Kangot, confectioner, 4 Rue de la Verrerie, Paris, has invented an 

 apparatus, called a confisoire, very convenient for preserving fruit. The 

 use of this is to avoid the necessity ot decanting, and 25 gallons or more 

 can be preserved at a time in sixty hours, and watery fruit in 72 hours. 



Bach kind of fruit is whitened in a different manner. Stone fruit is 

 placed in cold water over a slow fire, and removed with a skimmer as 

 soon as it rises to the top of the water. The condition of the cooking 

 is ascertained by the use of a pin, which must easily penetrate, or by 

 softly pressing with the fingers; when it is found to be sufficiently soft 

 it is taken out and put in cold water. If there is a great quantity of 

 fruit to be whitened, the same water may be used again, especially for 

 plums and green fruit. 



Plums that are whitened in the first water, not being so nice and 

 transparent as those whitened in the second, the poorest and ripest 

 and ill turned may be whitened first to acidulate the water. Some con- 

 fectioners employ lemon juice, virjuice, pyroligneous acid, alum, marine 

 salt, epsom salt, etc., to preserve the, whiteness of the fruit, and blue 



