PRESERVES. 
57 
Dolces, jellies, jams, etc., may be obtained, 
and with such an assortment of delicious pre- 
serves, it is difficult to decide which, if any, 
have claims to superiority as compared with the 
others; perhaps, however, the Guava, Orange 
and Pine-apple preserves are most popular, 
while Papaw Jam is of special interest on ac- 
count of its digestive properties. The Papaw, 
when ripe, is sometimes eaten raw, and is a 
good remedy for dyspepsia : as an instance of 
its remarkable properties, tough meat can be 
rendered quite tender if rubbed over with 
the green fruit. 
Sugar. The average house-keeper uses 
only refined and imported sugar for manufac- 
turing preserves when they are to be kept for 
any length of time, as for export, or for any 
other purpose. 
The preserves made with native sugars are 
apt to start fermenting. The native sugars 
if good samples, of which there are many, are 
obtained, must, however, be exonerated from 
blame, for there are several manufacturers 
who use nothing but native sugars and yet 
their preserves keep indefinitely. The solu- 
tion of the difficulty appears to be in the boil- 
ing, which should be sufficient to destroy the 
minute organism to which the fermentation is 
due. 
Vessels in which the fruits are cooked 
should be copper, porcelain or enamel ; iron 
vessels must on no account be used, as the 
vegetable acids of the fruits form compounds 
with the iron which darken the syrup and 
give it an undesirable flavour. 
