AVHOLE FEUIT PKESERVATION. 



783 



scarcely say that those difficulties have been overcome ; patience and 

 dogged determination have succeeded, and now all the fruits grown in this 

 country, with the solitary exception of Strawberries, are entirely amenable 

 to this process. 



As to the distinctive advantages of this vacuum system over all others 

 there is — 



First, a great economy of time, the process being very rapid, com- 

 plete preservation being effected in less than half the time occupied by 

 the old method. 



Then, under this system — and this is all-important — the essence of the 

 fruit (and, in the case of stone fruit, of the kernel also) is fully retained 

 (no evaporation taking place), giving the fruits a richness and fulness of 

 flavour altogether unique, and this is so pronounced that users have 

 frequently remarked that essences must have been added to give the 

 fruit so fine a flavour, and would hardly believe it to be natural. 



Then, again, the fruits are so completely sterilised under this process 

 that it is believed they will keep a good many years while remaining in 

 bottle ; and even w^hen opened they will keep sweet for several days. 



And lastly, while in bottle, unopened, they seem to be quite indifferent 

 to extremes of temperature. They have been tested under all conditions 

 of heat and cold, with the result that they remain quite unaffected. 



Now, w^ithout referring to other advantages which might be mentioned, 

 it may be said, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that this is the 

 most perfect method of fruit preservation yet known, and a method 

 admirably adapted, when understood, to the peculiar characteristics of 

 British-grown fruits. For, as most people know, our home-grown fruits 

 do not lend themselves to the system of evaporation so readily as do the 

 fruits of other countries, but they respond in a remarkably happy way to 

 this vacuum method of preservation. 



With regard to the effect which this new method of preser^'ing is 

 likely to have upon our national fruit-growing industry, it is as yet some- 

 what difficult to speak, for, as I have before explained, the method is still 

 only in its infancy. But if one may judge from the reception which 

 fruits so preserved have met with from the general public, there is very 

 little doubt that a wide door of hope has been opened for the British 

 fruit-grower, and at the same time it has made it possible for consumers 

 to enjoy home-grown fruits all the year round. 



There is one fact with which we are all quite familiar, but which does 

 not seem to have impressed us so much as it might have done, and that 

 is that the fruits of this country are not obtainable for more than about 

 one-third of the year. With the exception of Apples and Pears we are 

 practically w^ithout home-grown fruit from October to June, during which 

 period consumers have to fall back upon those imported from other 

 countries. I do not refer so much to fresh fruit as to preserved. One 

 would scarcely credit the extent of the trade with the Continent now 

 being done in preserved fruits ; it is simply colossal, amounting, I believe, 

 to millions of pounds sterling a year. Why should we not have some 

 share of this spent at home ? The reason we have not had it in the past 

 is because there has been no determined effort to grapple with the (ques- 

 tion — no really serious attempt to preserve fruit whole in such quantities 



