114 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



neath them. The fruit, after being carefully picked and strigged, 

 is then poured into the bottles until each is quite full. The 

 boiler is then filled with water to the necks of the bottles and 

 heated until the fruit shows signs of cracking, no water having 

 been put into the bottles up to this period ; or the bottles filled 

 with fruit may be placed in a moderate oven and heated to the 

 same point, without using water at all. The bottles are at this 

 stage filled with boiling water and immediately covered whilst 

 boiling with air-tight stoppers. This is most important, as all 



Fig. 7. 



fungoid germs must De destroyed to prevent fermentation. The 

 old system of covering with skin was not only tedious but often 

 failed to thoroughly exclude the air, with the result that mould 

 soon made its appearance and further keeping was at an end. 

 But with Messrs. De Luca, Hill & Co.'s bottles there is no danger 

 of this. Corks are also sometimes used, but these require cover- 

 ing with resin or tin-foil, which to an amateur takes consider- 

 able time. In wholesale factories corks are still used, but in 

 this case bottles are sold with the fruit, and this can be done at 



