223 



Ed ib le Pi 'oducts- 



small cost, and perfect safety during its application— formalin conies easily 

 first. It is easy to understand why the English, who are the greatest importers 

 of fruit from all parts of the world, should be eager to discover a process for 

 preserving as long as possible its quality and appearance ; and it is because of 

 their incontestable and official statements that we think it obligatory on us to 

 bring this new process under the notice of all producers, merchants, and consumers, 

 to whom the preservation of fruit is a daily problem. 



But although the use of the preservative is chiefly directed towards the 

 keeping of table fruit, it might be applied quite as advantageously to cider fruit. 

 Many cider apples and pears, in spite of the great resistance of their anatomical 

 structure, as compared with that of the garden varieties, have just as much need 

 of tDrotection. The greatest .enemy to cider apples intended to be kept for a long 

 time is rot. It originates in the same way as on eating-apples, and there can be 

 no doubt that the same treatment will produce the same results on similar subjects. 

 We repeat the mode of procedure. Plunge for ten minutes in cold water containing 

 3 per cent, of formalin. A tub or a cask cut in halves will serve for the purpose 

 of a bath. Take out the fruit, and drain and dry on trays, then place in the store 

 room as usual, putting on one side as comparison a lot of the same species and 

 weight which have not been sterilised. The expense of this new method of 

 conservation is quite insignificant, and the profits must be very high if the fruit 

 will keep for sometime in a perfect state, as is alleged ; and if the treatment can 

 be as successfully carried out with the more delicate garden fruits, it will become 

 of immense importance, and affect every species under the sun. — The Agricultural 

 Gazette of New South Wales. 



