CHAPTER IV 
BOTTLING STONE FRUIT 
Plums.—Plums should be quite freshly gathered for 
bottling, and only those of a fairly good size should be 
used. ‘The smaller plums can always be turned into 
jam. ‘The fruit should be quite firm and not quite ripe. 
For all the stone fruits it is best to use the larger 
bottles, as with the smaller bottles the mouths are not 
big enough to allow the insertion of any very fine fruit. 
The packing of plums in the bottles is an important 
item, because if the fruit is not properly packed the 
bottles present a very ugly appearance when finished. 
To pack properly the fruit must be graded, and plums 
chosen as near of a size as possible. It is always best 
to make a good beginning by getting three even fruits 
if possible into the bottom of, say, a ‘‘De Lucca” or 
Atlas bottle (p. 12). When the lowest round is started 
properly the rest of the packing is fairly simple. The 
bottles should be gently shaken trom side to side, and a 
round piece of wood with a blunt end should be used to 
help to slide the fruit gently into place. Great care must 
be taken, not on any account to break the skin. Some 
people prick their fruit with a steel knitting needle at 
the stalk end, to prevent the skin breaking, but we have 
serious doubts whether anything is gained by so doing. 
The bottles, after packing, are filled up with either 
water or syrup. When very large plums are used they 
may be cut in half with a dessert knife, and the stones 
extracted and cracked. The kernels may then be dis- 
tributed among the fruit in the bottles. 
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