On preserving Plums. . 603 



Of all the kinds of fruits, £ione is a greater favourite with me 

 than the common plum, and it is therefore not remarkable that 

 my particular attention should have been directed to it. I 

 thought there could be nothing more delightful than to be able 

 to produce plums for the dessert at Christmas or Easter; and, as 

 I have succeeded in accomplishing both, I thought I could not 

 do better than communicate the particulars to your readers, 

 especially as I have frequently heard complaints of unsuccessful 

 attempts in such pursuits. 



I gathered the plums in the autumn with a pair of gloves on, 

 taking care to cut them off very carefully with a sharp pair of 

 scissors, so as to retain the whole stalk; and to see if the fruit 

 were ripe, but not withered at the stalk. After I had collected a 

 considerable number in this manner, I rolled up each plum 

 separately in soft paper, and laid them carefully in a well burned 

 and glazed jar, which I now covered closely with a double blad- 

 der. I also wrapped up an equal number of plums in paper, 

 and put them in a wade-mouthed bottle, which I closed up in 

 like manner. I then filled some bottles with dried pear leaves 

 (because they have always appeared to me to be particularly 

 disposed to resist decay), and laid the plums so among them, that 

 one might not touch the other. I then filled a bottle with plums 

 without putting anything between them, and shut them up as I 

 had done the others. 



I now had a hole dug in a dry part of the garden, 3 ft. deep, 

 put in all the vessels containing the fruit, with a piece of brick 

 on the top of each vessel, and filled up the hole. When frost 

 set in, I put on a layer of leaves, so as to enable me to dig out 

 any of the vessels when necessary. 



I opened the hole the following year, and found my plums in 

 the following: state : — 



Those in the jar were in tolerable condition, but they should 

 have been looked at sooner, as those at the bottom had lost their 

 flavour, and the paper, particularly at the sides of the jar, had 

 become quite damp. 



Those wrapped up in paper and in a bottle, were in much 

 better condition ; only a few were decayed at the bottom, and 

 the paper was quite dry. 



Those plums, however, among the dry leaves were the best of 

 all. They had not lost the least of their bloom, and the flavour 

 was as if they had just been taken from the tree. My joy was 

 great at this favourable result, and I can therefore recommend 

 this manner of preserving plums with the greatest confidence. 



In preserving the plums with pear leaves, I always put in a 

 layer of leaves at the bottom of the bottle, then plums, keeping 

 them separate from each other by the leaves and also from touch- 

 ing the sides of the bottle; but on opening the bottle I found 



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