3G0 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



snji^ar will pervade all the llesh}^ portions of the fruits, and will not injure 

 tlieir flavor; and tliey will have more the taste of fruits freshly cut up in 

 sugar. 



All other modes of preserving- are dependent upon one of two conditions; 

 being cooked with large amounts of sugar like ordinary sweetmeats; or, 

 being put up with very small portions of sugar, forming weak syrups, and 

 simmered in jars, so as to enable their being sealed in a vacuum. These 

 two consiitntc the entire category of methods, varying but slightly. 



Preserving Vegetables for Winter Use. 



Siring Beans. — String them, break them into short pieces, lay them into- 

 a barrel in alternaic layers of half an inch Ihick, with Turk's island salt or 

 any hard crystalline salt, such as is preferred for butter-making and free 

 from bittern. Fut on the top the head of a barrel covered with a flat stone. 

 A liquid will exude from the beans, but no water must be added. During 

 winter place these on a sieve, permit the fluid to run off, soak them over 

 night in fresh water, and cook them the next day in the usual way. They 

 cannot be told from freshly grown beans. This process will not do for 

 Lima or other shell beans. 



Oreen Corn. — For preserving, the Stowell's evergreen and the Buckland 

 mammoth are the best. Suspejid the ears in a net, immersed in boiling 

 water, long enough to stiiHen the milk of the corn — cooking the albumen; 

 then lake them out, husk them, shave the corn from the cob with a very 

 sharp knife, and place it in cans or jars, immerse these jars to two-thirds 

 their depth in boiling water, and seal while hot, so as to insure a vacuum. 



Many vegetables may be preserved in this manner; indeed, almost all 

 the entire line of kitchen vegetables, including shell beans, peas, etc. All 

 vegetables for preserving should be young. The petit pois of France are 

 imported here in cans, and are a good example of the superiority of younger 

 vegetables. 



Many vegetables, including mushrooms, may be preserved by placing 

 them in cans with water and inti'oducing a sing-le crystal of citric acid, 

 heating the mass slightly aiul sealing in a vacuum. When removed from 

 the cans during Avinter, the water with the acid may be thrown away, and 

 the slight quantity of citric acid remaining in the vegetable will be entirely 

 removed by boilir)g. 



All preserved fruit and vegetables should be kept where the temperature 

 is most equable, not subject to sudden changes; hanging shelves in cellars 

 are api)r(;priale. 



Ahuison Nash, Esq., said that as far as his experience went he found the 

 best way to pi-eserve all kinds of fruit was to keep them at a very low 

 temperature, but not low enough to destroy the ciystalixation of tlie fruit. 

 The best plan for preserving is to keep them under the ground just below 

 ■where the frost reaches. lie had picked up apples from the ground after 

 snow had fallen, and placed them in straw during freezing weather, and ho 

 found they made the best of cider. 



Mr. Nathan C. Ely remarked, with regard to cider, he had observed that 

 made from apples gathered in December partook of the character of crab- 



