344 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



FRUIT-PRESERVING. 



Advantages— Methods and Appliances— Jam-making 

 — Jelly - making — Marmalade — Crystallizing 

 and Glazing — Chutney — Bottling Whole Fruits 

 — Fruit Evaporating or Drying — Canning — Mis- 

 cellaneous Methods — Hardy Fruits — Apples — 

 Jelly — Pears — Quinces — Stone-fruits — Plums — 

 Apricots — Cherries — Peaches — Sma ll Fruits — 

 Strawberries — Raspberries — Blackberries — 

 Red Currants — Black Currants — Gooseberries 

 — Miscellaneous Fruits and Methods. 



-One of the most important 

 subjects connected with the cultivation and 

 utilization of hardy fruits is that dealing with 

 their preservation in a convenient form for use 

 as food. Briefly summarized, the advantages of 

 an extension of knowledge in this matter may 

 be stated as follows : — 



1st. To prolong the season during which fruit 

 is available for use in the home or for sale. 



2nd. To provide methods of utilizing the 

 surplus produce in seasons of heavy crops. 



3rd. To enable the fruit-grower to convert 

 waste or unsaleable fruits into a useful and 

 marketable product. 



Wherever hardy fruit is grown on an exten- 

 sive scale, it is essential that some provision be 

 made for the purposes enumerated, and even 

 when grown only to a moderate extent the 

 matter demands some consideration. The whole 

 subject is of great importance; in fact, the ulti- 

 mate success of increased fruit-culture must 

 depend mainly upon the attention that is paid 

 to this department. It constitutes the key to 

 several of the chief problems, for usually the 

 difference between a profitable balance and ab- 

 solute total loss is influenced by the care or 

 neglect in making the most of all fruit produce, 

 by means of the various methods of preser- 

 vation. 



At the present time the waste of fruit in 

 both large and small establishments is deplor- 

 able in the extreme. A large proportion of this 

 waste is either due to want of knowledge of 

 methods that have proved satisfactory, or to 

 ignoring them, under the impression that they 

 are not adapted for general use in this country. 

 In the " gluts " which occur periodically, espe- 

 cially with stone fruits, when the market prices 

 are depressed to a point that will not cover the 

 cost of gathering and carriage, many tons of 

 good fruits are allowed to fall and rot on the 

 ground. At the same time, every year enor- 

 mous quantities of similar fruits, preserved in 



different ways, are imported into Great Britain, 

 and find a ready market. From one of the recent 

 Board of Trade returns we learn that over ninety 

 million pounds of preserved fruits and vege- 

 tables were imported in 1899, a large proportion 

 of which consisted of products that could have 

 been profitably prepared in this country. 



As regards fruits preserved as jam or bottled 

 whole, British manufacturers hold their position 

 satisfactorily, and some of the larger jam firms 

 export to the colonies and other countries. In 

 the processes of drying or canning, and in the 

 utilization of otherwise waste fruits, American 

 and Continental competitors have taken the 

 lead, and developed an enormous industry. In 

 the United States, where the advance within 

 recent years has been most marked, the work 

 was practically commenced by the efforts of 

 individual fruit-growers to provide an outlet 

 for surplus or waste. For a considerable period 

 the main supplies were thus produced, and 

 necessarily resulted in a great variety of brands 

 and styles of preparation, which were confusing 

 and objectionable to large buyers. As soon as 

 it was found, however, that a demand existed 

 for good samples of dried or canned fruits, 

 factories were established, which in some cases 

 have now assumed wonderful proportions, and 

 the trade passed from the fruit-grower to another 

 class of men who were dealers or preservers 

 simply. 



Mr. F. A. Waugh, in a recent work on Fruit 

 Harvesting, has the following remarks on this 

 subject, which illustrate the advance in the 

 business: — "Formerly the home manufacture 

 of dried Apples, &c, was common in all the 

 farming districts of the United States — at least 

 in the north — and home-dried fruit was to some 

 extent an article of importance in the country 

 stores. That day has passed. Home -dried 

 Apples and Peaches went out with home-knit 

 socks and home-made soap. There are still 

 families who dry their own Apples, just as 

 there are some who still make soap and knit 

 socks; but for the most part these have all 

 been given up. The change has been the same 

 in all cases, and has resulted from the same 

 causes. It is cheaper to buy soap than to make 

 it, and it is equally easier to buy dried fruit 

 than to dry it one's self. It is a question of 

 division of labour. The man, or the stock 

 company, that makes a business of drying fruits 

 on a large scale can do the work to greater 

 advantage than the farmer or the farmer's wife. 

 His product is more uniform, better in appear- 

 ance, and perhaps better in quality than the 



