68 



RECREATION. 



fectionery at the Agricultural Hall last 

 autumn did not fail to note the promi- 

 nence assigned to partially boiled-down 

 fruits with a view to their ultimate con- 

 version into preserves, seeing in the idea 

 a possible valuable resource to the British 

 market gardener, now so often handicapped 

 by glutted markets and low prices. The 

 aim, however, of the American experts is 

 to go yet farther and to work their pulps 

 with the due proportions of sugar into 

 practically jam bricks. One need not be 

 very old to remember how housekeepers of 

 the recent past used to pride themselves 

 on the stiffness and firmness of their 

 damson or cherry "cheeses," which could 

 be stamped out in fanciful forms with a 

 pastry cutter and were not even sticky to 

 the touch. Those were due to careful 

 boiling to exactly the right point, after 

 processes of putting the fruit through fine 

 sieves and bringing the sugar to candy. 

 This, on a wholesale scale, is what 

 American jam makers want to accomplish, 

 and many experiments in that direction are 

 now being carried out. 



Indeed, so far has it gone that a firm 

 of wholesale dealers in American produce 

 submitted to the British War Office a 

 number of specimens of these jam bricks 

 for the use of the troops in South Africa, 

 pointing out the valuable saving that would 

 be effected in freight and transport could 

 oiled tissue paper take the place of the 

 present tins, glass jars or crockery pots. 

 The samples received the fullest considera- 

 tion, as the condensed soups supplied 

 through the same house had won special 

 commendation from Earl Roberts. The 

 preserves were not adopted, however, 

 which, it may be said, did not cause 

 any surprise to those concerned, who 

 are themselves the first to admit that 

 there are still obstacles to be overcome 

 before a perfect solidified preserve is avail- 

 able. That these will be surmounted 

 within the next few months no one has the 

 slightest doubt, and meantime the samples 

 in this country are attracting much in- 

 terest throughout the grocery trade. The 

 problems have been overcome with respect 

 to mincemeat, long regarded as impossible 

 of compression ; and the traveler, the 

 soldier, the sportsman, or any other to 

 whom small bulk is a consideration, can 

 now purchase a hard, heavy cube of about 

 2 or 3 inches in size, from which a few 

 fragments chipped off and moistened with 

 sherry, brandy and water or milk, will 

 prove an excellent presentment of the fa- 

 vorite Christmas delicacy. 



Incidental to these inquiries, many in- 

 teresting facts were to be gleaned as to the 

 growing part that fruit pulps from abroad 

 are playing in the manufacture of English 

 jams. When a single order irom one noted 



firm alone amounts to 28 tons of apricot 

 pulp from California, it will convey some 

 idea of the magnitude the system is at- 

 taining. Plums, pineapples, quinces, apples, 

 and peaches are also largely utilized in 

 this way, and the latest triumph, as it is 

 claimed, in this direction is that of being 

 able to send to this country strawberry 

 pulp. Small wonder, indeed, that the Brit- 

 ish grower has cause for complaint that 

 the demand for his products is not what 

 it was. With the treatment of this ma- 

 terial on such a scale, it is not astonishing 

 that those who know the wonderful cli- 

 matic advantages of California for drying 

 should advocate the carrying of pulp prep- 

 aration a step farther and presenting the 

 jam itself without the costly encumbrances 

 of old fashioned packing. 



GRAPE JUICE AND SWEET CIDER. 



Fermentation is due to the presence of 

 micro-organisms which, like mold spores, 

 abound in the air. They gain access to the 

 juice or cider after it is pressed, or they 

 may have adhered to the fruit and have 

 been washed off in the juice. These fer- 

 ments are minute plants and grow in grape 

 juice or cider in the same way that yeast 

 plants grow in bread dough. Their growth 

 may be prevented by sterilizing the juice as 

 well as the vessels used in connection with 

 the bottling of the product. Heating is 

 the simplest, safest and most effective 

 means of sterilizing; but great care is nec- 

 essary in order to so control the tempera- 

 ture as to secure thorough sterilization 

 without injuring the flavor of the product. 

 A report of the Canada Experimental 

 Farms gives an account of a series of ex- 

 periments on the best means of sterilizing 

 grape juice. The conclusion, which prob- 

 ably applies to sweet cider as well as to 

 grape juice, was that "the natural flavor 

 of grape juice may be preserved intact by 

 raising the temperature of the juice grad- 

 ually to 170 degrees F., keeping it at that 

 point 10 minutes and then quickly bottling 

 it, taking care to use absolutely air-tight 

 and thoroughly sterilized vessels. These 

 vessels should be taken from a tank or 

 kettle of boiling water, immediately filled, 

 and corked or covered with the least pos- 

 sible delay." 



The use of antiseptics, such as salicylic 

 acid, is considered unwise. They are un- 

 necessary, and unless used with great cau- 

 tion may be injurious to health. Further- 

 more, the manufacturers, seldom, if ever, 

 state that antiseptics have been used and 

 the purchaser is deceived. Grape juice is 

 frequently given to invalids. In such cases 

 it is especially important not to administer 

 drugs which may be dangerous. 



