10 THE BOOK OF FRUIT BOTTLING 
because it stands to reason that the temperature to 
which the fruit is being subjected cannot be registered 
with accuracy by a thermometer which is ot enclosed 
inside the vessel where the process is actually taking 
place. 
In the Mercia Patent Steriliser every attempt has been 
made to put upon the market a steriliser which is the 
outcome of practical experience, presented in a portable, 
tangible, practical, and workmanlike form, and at a price 
which brings it within the reach of all who are taking 
the bottling of fruit, year by year, seriously. Under 
its original name of ‘‘Lady Warwick Hostel Patent 
Steriliser” it was used at the Hostel, Reading, and at 
Studley College, to bottle the fruits which won the 
Gold Medal and other medals from the Royal Horti- 
cultural Society; further, it has received many testimonials 
from private people, who find it satisfactory in every 
way. 
The illustration, p. I1, shows its construction. It is 
made in three sizes of the best steeled tin. ‘The largest, 
A, takes 25 bottles, holding 2 Ibs. each, z.e. 50 lb. of 
fruit, or vegetables or milk, at a charge. 
The second size, B, takes 12 bottles, holding 2 lb. 
each. 
The third size, C, which is for household use and has 
no jacket, holds 6 bottles, containing 2 lb., or 9 smaller 
ones. 
The first two sizes are constructed of two thicknesses 
of tin, with a hollow space of an inch diameter in between; 
the object of this is that a jacket is formed, which the 
heating apparatus fills with hot air, and this hot-air 
cushion helps to sustain an even temperature for half an 
hour or more, during the process of sterilisation, with a 
trifling expenditure of additional heat. It is not only 
economical, but the uniform temperature is undoubtedly 
advantageous to successful sterilisation. 
