402 



THE OARDEX AND FIELD. 



February, 191 4 



® Fruit Bottlins @ 



(Continued). 



— The Principle of Preserving. — 

 Several things have to be care- 

 fully remembered to enable the 

 preserver to arrive at a successful 

 result. First, the fresh fruit no 

 sooner arrives at a state of per- 

 fection than it begins to decay. 

 Then, the more quickly the Iruit 

 ripens the more rapid the decay. 

 Thus fresh fruit necessarily con- 

 tains the germs of decomposition 

 more or less emphasised accord- 

 ing to the condition of the fruit. 

 The principle of preserving is to 

 arrest this decomT)osition by 

 sterilisation, not of the fruit alone, 

 but of the whole contents of the 

 bottle, bv driving out and absorb- 

 ing all the air and gases, and pre- 

 venting any air returning. Thus a 

 vacuum is formed within the bot- 

 tle or receptacle, and a corres- 

 pondin'-- atmospheric pressure on 

 the outside, principally aipon the 

 cover, this being the part which 

 offers the least resistance. It is 

 not essential to destroy the 

 micro-orcranisms in the fmit, for 

 if this were dnn- s(i--"+i'it^^l1->' the 

 fruit itself would be effectually re- 

 duced to a mass of puln bv the 

 len<rthv and hWhW heited process; 

 bait i-n a properlv procured vacuum 

 rwhich Nature nbhors^i the |^erfns 

 become dormant and sterilised, 

 and in the absence of air cannot 

 continue the natural nrocess of de- 

 cav. The fr"it. tWrefore remains 

 in its natural condition of fresV 

 n<>ss as Ion"- as the vacuum is 

 pffpcf'^'elv maintaifi-d, or until the 

 bottle is opened and the vacuum 

 of coursr', dostroved. when, in the 

 nat'iral p^-olutinr of thin<rs, the 

 <rerm-aetivitv ^^'^ll afrain 

 as from the time when if was 

 arrested bv thp nroc<^ss of pres'crv- 

 in", but at a s1i"-htlv increased 

 r;ite resuUintr fr^m the unnatural 

 rherl' to which it has been sub- 

 jected. 



— Sterilisinir the "Bottles, Ktc. — 

 The bottles and covers should 



be well washed, and thoroughly 

 dried in an oven imtil thev are 

 riuite hot. This will effectually 

 sterilise them. Tt is also desir. 

 al)le to fdl the fruit into the bot- 

 tles as soon after as possible. . 



Sometimes it is desired to 

 sterilise a lar^e iar when putting 

 UP jam or pickles in large quanti- 

 ties. This may be done by pro- 

 curinir a sulphur taper and attach- 

 ing this to a wire ; alloW it to 

 burn in the jar (which should be 



quite dry) for a few seconds. This 

 will have the desired effect, and 

 this method may also l>e" iveed for 

 sterili.sing barrels, which must, of 

 course, be previously cleansed and 

 dried. This sterilising must be 

 done just before use, and will not 

 iniure the flavour of the goods. 



— The Process of Preserving Fruit 

 in Glass Bottles. — 



Having described the principles 

 of preserving, I will now proceed 

 to describe the process by which a 

 proper vacuum may be secured and 

 maintained in bottled fruits. I 

 am' aware that a vacuum chamber 

 is sometimes used for certain pre- 

 serves and confectionery, but this 

 is not satisfactory in preserving 

 fruits. The method in general use, 

 and which supersedes all others for 

 fruits, is the application of heat, 

 which may be either live steam or 

 hot water. T;ive steam has many 

 disadvantages, and is not suitable 

 for household u.se, nor is it now 

 emploved in pre.servinp- fruit com.- 

 mercially. Water is by far the 

 best method, and is the only 

 means now employed in preserving 

 fruits in bottles. Water can be 

 broufT'ht to a higher temperature 

 by the giddition of icertain chemi- 

 cals, but- this need not be discussed 

 here, as T do not find it necessary 

 to employ water at boiline-point 

 or over. Tt will be well, however, 

 to offer a word of w&mino- aeainst 

 the use of sea water. A case came 

 under my notice where, fresh 

 water being scarce, sea water was 

 used for the preservino- bath, and, 

 althonrrh the nreserver had been 

 usually succes.sful i" the past, he 

 was snrprisp'l on tViis occasion to 

 find his fruit over-pre.served, in 

 conserniencp of the sea water, 

 which, be'ncr of o-reater density, 

 r,"ached n hitrher temperature than 

 he intended. 



The utensil to be employed may 

 be the ordinary 'lom-^stic boiler 

 (or copper), or a suitable preserv. 

 intr bath may be made at small 

 cost, ha vino- a trav ma de to fit 

 the inside closely, and deen enoiirrh 

 to -nllow the water tn completely 

 cover the tops of the bottles to a 

 depth of one or two inches. The 

 trav .should be inado of strap iron 

 and crqlvani.sed. lirht in weif^ht 

 ronsistent with strength, and 

 fitted with roPe handles (not 

 metal) to enable the operator to 

 lift the tray containinir the bot- 

 tles bodily out of the bath. Se- 



\eral baths of this description can 

 be employed if necessary, or a 

 larger bath to hold two, three, or 

 Tour travs can be employed accords 

 ing to the Quantity of frwit to be 

 preserved. If the copper is to be 

 employed as a preserving bath, as 

 is usually the case, I strongly re- 

 commend the use of a galvanised 

 wire basket, made to fit the in- 

 side of the boiler. This will en- 

 able the preserver to submerge all 

 the bottles of fruit in one opera- 

 t on, and, what is more important, 

 to lift them all out at one time, 

 and so avoid the trouble and an- 

 noyance wh ch generally occurs 

 with that last bottle that "de- 

 clines to come out " when a wire 

 basket is not 'USed. 



The cost of the few appliances 

 which I urge all fruit-preservers to 

 provide themselves with is so 

 trifling, and, seeing that they will 

 pay for themselves the first year 

 in the improved quality and extra 

 ouantity of finished bottles, that 

 they can be used for other pur- 

 poses when not employed for fruit 

 preservinp-, and 'f taken care of 

 will last for many years, the out- 

 lay can only be considered in the 

 lisrht of a good investment. 



Those that are nedtssary and im- 

 portant are : — 



fi) A suitable tray or basket. 



(2) A bath-thermometer. 



(^) A pitting-spoon. 



In addition to the above, it is 

 well to be provided with a sieve, 

 a wooden tub, a wooden or 

 enamelled bucket (lartre size), a 

 saccharometer for testing syrup, 

 and a narine knife. A larsre .stew- 

 pan and a wooden spoon are also 

 sometimes required. 



— The Process- — 



Put sufficient water to complete- 

 ly cover the bottles in the cooper 

 or bath (which for brevity will be 

 hereinafter referred to as the 

 " bath ") ; and set the fire going. 

 Tie a piece of string to the loop 

 of the thermometer, and suspend it 

 in the water so that it may be 

 easily read. Wliile the water is 

 heating see that the covers of 

 the bottles are fitted correctly and 

 quite loo.sely on the bottles, but 

 not so loo.sely as to be liable to 

 fall off in the bath; also see that the 

 rinp^s fit correctly and arc suffici- 

 ently soft and not perished by age. 

 Tt is false economy to u.se old 

 or previously used rings ; if they 

 are round in .shape they must not 

 have a twist in them. Pack the 

 bottles then closely into the bas- 

 ket (or tray) ; it is not necessary 



