PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 359 



GATHERING FRUITS. 



The shaking of apples and other frnits from trees renders them unfit for 

 fixport, and indeed for an}' except immediate use. For hmg' keeping and 

 for export they should be gathered hy hand; pro[ierIy dried so as to part 

 with six per cent of their water; separately moved by hand, in packing and 

 unpacking, and never rolled over in barrels; but carefull}' handled so as not 

 to cause the apex of contact to make sliglit bruises, as all fruit so bruised 

 is sure to decay in degree if not entirely. 



MODES OF PRESERVING. 



Free circulation, dry air and low temperatures, such as referred to in the 

 first part of this article, is tiic best mode of preserving fruits in their natu- 

 ral statv. They will lessen slightly in weight, but not in bulk. The exos- 

 tnose action is always periodically active, while the endosmo.se action is 

 nciirly or quite inactive. Thus an apple immersed in water, instead of 

 receiving water through the skin, will actually lessen in weight bj' exoa- 

 mose action. 8ome fruiis, such as cranberries, are preserved by immersion 

 in water. This is true of goosebea'ies and currants in a degree, particu- 

 larly of the former. 



Dessication. 



Within the last few 3'eavs large quantities of vegetables have teen pre- 

 served for thb use of armies and navii^s. This is done simply by drying 

 «nder rapid liot blasts of uir. Cabbage will lose 93 per cent ot its weight 

 by this drying process, and may be pressed into a very gmail space, where 

 it will keep for years. If thrown into water over night each seven pounds 

 Avill take \ip ninety-three pounds of water, and again become fit for cooking. 

 The same operation may be applied to minceil carrots, turnips, beets, pars- 

 nips, and other vegetables and fruits. With the vegetables the change is 

 very slight. With fruits it is greater; although not as great as the change 

 vccurring in the slow snn-drying of apples and peaches. 



Potatoes, while being dried during the passage over long belts, under 

 liot blasts, also i-eceive pressure occasionally from rollers, and when finished 

 for-n fine flour which may be dusted into boiling water at any time, when 

 it will take up seventeen times its weight in water, representing mashed 

 potatoes of superior quality. This potato flour will keep longer, and in 

 better condition than the ordinary flour from wheat. 



Family Receipts for Preserving Fruits and Vegetables. 



If the cure of an apple is removed by a tin tube pushed tlirough it, and 

 the upper and lower ends cut off and re- used as stoppers, th(; space between 

 them being filled with triple refined sugar, a number of these may be placed 

 in a tin kettle, covere<J; tliis is immersed for half its depth in another ket- 

 tle filled with boiling water, which must be placed on the fire and boiled 

 actively for twenty-five minutes. Then place the apples in a jar, raise its 

 temperature by immersion in boiling water, so as to drive out the atmos- 

 phere, K'aving itself filled with vapor, and then seak While so conditioned 

 tin- fruit will keep well so long as the atmosphere is excluded, or, in other 

 word.s, while the fruit remains in vacuo. This method is applicable to 

 quinces, pears, lemons, limes, oranges, and many other kinds of fruit The 



