FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, 



ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. 



APPLE. — Preservation of apples. — Apples keep best in 

 a low temperature, and may be well preserved in an ice- 

 house. An English journal recommends the use of dry 

 pit sand for preserving pears and apples. Glazed earthen 

 jars are to be provided, and the sand to be thoroughly dried. 

 A layer of sand an inch thick is then placed in the bottom 

 of the jar ; above this a layer of fruit, to be covered with 

 a layer of sand an inch thick ; then lay a second stratum of 

 fruit, covering again with an inch of sand. An inch and a 

 half of sand may be placed over the uppermost row of fruit. 

 The jar is now to be closed, and placed in a dry situation, 

 as cool as possible, but entirely free from frost. Some 

 assert that apples may be kept in casks through the winter, 

 in a chamber or garret, by being merely covered with liuen 

 cloths. Apples, which are intended for winter's use, should 

 be suffered to hang on the tree as long as they are safe from 

 frost. 



Cobbett says, " To preserve apples in their whole state, 

 observe this, that/ro5^ does not much injure them, provided 

 they be kept in total darkness during the frost, and until 

 they be used ; and provided they be perfectly dry when put 

 away. If put together in large parcels, and kept from the 

 frost, they heatj and then they rot ; and those of them that 

 happen not to rot, lose their flavour, become vapid, and are, 

 indeed, good for little. This is the case with the Newtown 

 pippins that are sent to England, which are half lost by rot, 

 while the remainder are poor, tasteless stuff, very little bet- 

 ter than the English, the far greater part of which are either 

 sour or mawkish. The apples thus sent have every pos- 

 sible disadvantage. They are gathered carelessly, tossed 

 into baskets, and tumbled into barrels at once, and without 

 any packing stuff between thp.m : the barrels are flung into 

 2 



