1866.] 
AMKRICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
361 
At these meetings too much tune is usually 
devoted to general desultory debate, aud per- 
haps tlie same thing; can not be avoided this 
year, but let us endeavor to have the next meet- 
ing conducted differently. Let the business be 
arranged beforehand, and committees be appoint- 
ed for each fruit, and all communications be 
written and presented through them, and then a 
limited debate be allowed on the papers, confin- 
ing the discussions to things without inuendoes 
concerning persons, or flings at localities. If 
papers were written and read, we should be 
spared loose tallc and going over the same 
ground several times, as is the habit of many 
speakers. This Society is called the American 
Pomological ; let us see that its future meetings 
are of a character that will reflect credit on the 
name, aud that its proceedings 
shall bo of a value that will make 
them sought for as exponents of 
our present pomological knowl- 
edge, and indices of our progress. 
process, to dcvtlop the odor. It is said tb;>t tlie 
fruit allowed to dry without this treatment pos- 
sesses very little aroma. The pods are afterward 
oiled, done up in bundles, and .sent to market. The 
best will bo foimd to be frosted with minute crys- 
tals which are the aromatic principle. The name 
of tlie plant is YaniUa arvmatica; Vanilla is a Span- 
ish word, meanin;^' a little pod. The Touqua Beau, 
<fc Sweet-scented Vernal grass, Soneea-grass, Melilot, 
and some other plants, have an odor resembling 
that of Vanilla, and contain the same or a very 
closely related aromatic principle. Indeed, the 
Tonqua bean is often substituted for Vanilla iu fla- 
voring, anil the '' Extracts of Vanilla " are fre- 
quently wholly, or iu part made of it. The Ton- 
qua bean is much less expensive than Vanilla, but 
the substitution can only deceive those who are 
not familiar with the flavor of the two. Not only 
is Vauilla largely used to flavor ice cream, but for 
]S[(D)I[Ji]E]H[(D)LID. 
What is Vanilla? 
" Lemon or Vanilla ?" is the ques- 
tion usually asked when one orders 
ice cream, showing the great popular- 
ity of these two flavors. Of the 
many who are fond of this peculiar 
and, to most persons, delicious aro-) 
matie, probably but few know anj'- 
thing more about it than that it is a 
sort of beau, as the article is known 
iu commerce under the name of 
" Vanilla beans." A'auilla is one of 
the few economical products of that 
remarkable family of plants known 
as Orchids, or Orchidacecey so prized 
by the florist for the great beauty of 
its flowers, and so interesting to the 
botanist for the wondcrfid modi- 
fications of structure the flowers 
present. We have a number, such 
as the Lady's Slippers, Orchises, etc., 
which are all terrestrial, or grow iu 
the soil; but in the tropics, where 
they abound, most of them grow 
upon the branches of trees, aud draw 
all their sustenance from the air; 
hcuce when these plants are culti- 
vated in our hot-houses they are 
popularly known as "air plants." 
The Vauilia differs from most other orchids in being 
a chmbing vine, such as wo have shown iu the en- 
graving, clothing a dead trunk of a tree. It throws 
outgreatnumbersof ffirial roots, by which it clings, 
and produces very thick shining leaves. The flow- 
ers of the Vanilla aro not as showy as those of 
most of the family, and are produced iu clusters 
that are succeeded by bunches of long slender 
pods, which are the " beans " of commerce. Iu 
May last an accouut Avas given of the way iu which 
insects couveyed the pollen from the stamens of 
the Iris and other flowers to the pistils, and more is 
said on the same subject on p. 3.57 of this number. 
It is worthy of note that the flowers of the Vanilla 
are in like manner dependent upon the help of in- 
sects, or they will produce no fruit. In tropical 
America, the native home of the plant, there are 
insects which understand how to do this, but iu 
the East Indies, where the plant is cultivated, there 
are either not the right sort of insects, or they are 
less acute than the American ones, as the Vanil- 
la produces no fruit unless the flowers are fertil- 
ized by hand. The pods are some 6 or S inches 
long, narrow, three-sided, and if allowed to remain 
on the plant, finally burst into three valves or 
pai-ts, and scatter the minute black seeds. The 
pods are gathered when fully developed, dried in 
the enn, and afterward rolled up in parcels where 
they undergo a sort of fermentation, or sweating 
custards, Russes, eakos, and many other delieaeies. 
Probably a reliable extract is the handiest form iu 
which to use it. The best way to use the beau it- 
self is to beat it iu a mortar, with sufficient loaf 
sugar to finely divide aud powder it, and to absorb 
all the oil. This is to be kept closely stopped. 
»-< — — ^*^ >-^ 
A Talk About Preserving Fruits. 
In no other department of housekeeping has 
there been so great progress, during the past dozen 
years, as in the preservation of fruits. It is now 
practicable to have a supply all the year, nearly as 
good as the fresh picked. Instead of the dried ap- 
ples, peaches, cherries and currants, and the con- 
centrated costly jars of preserves to be brought out 
ouly for " company," or special occasions, it is now 
easy, aud economical iu money as well as in liealtli, 
to have a dailj' supply of good, naturally flavored, 
almost fresh pie-plant, strawberries, cherries, 
blackberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, huckle- 
berries, apple sauce, etc. The fruit thus kept, is 
healthful, aud with high-priced butter a cheap bot- 
tle of nice fruit upon the tea-table, is economical, 
as it furnishes both nutriment and condiment. 
There .are various contrivances and methods 
for aeeomplishing the object, and each season 
brings out from half a dozen to two dozen new de- 
vices. In what follows, we speak whohy from home 
experience, remarking that we have latterly been 
almost uniformly successful in securing a full sup- 
ply of various fruits, that have been asreeable to the 
home circle as well as to visitors. The chief requis- 
ites, after the fruits, are : Some good, convenient 
form of bottles or cans, a cooking vessel, aud sugar. 
27m i'VM!7.s.— Fruits of all kinds are easily pro- 
served, .as are also rhubarb or pie-plant, and tom.a- 
toes. The main supply of fruits proper for the j'car 
eousists, in the order of abundance : 1st, of peaches, 
when plenty ; 2nd, strawberries ; 3d, cherries, when 
plenty ; 4, pears; ,5, raspberries .andblaclcberries ; 0, 
huckleberries, etc. Apple-sauce is put up i>lcnti- 
fully at different seasons, usually in the bottles first 
used for other fruits. Pie-plant aud tomatoes, are 
preserved in large quantities, so as to haveau abund- 
ance whenever wanted, until they come again. In- 
deed, all the fruits are put up in sup- 
ply to last until a new crop of each, 
and in a season of special abun- 
d.ance, a two years' stock is laid in. 
^ We seldom find much difl'crence iu 
bottles of fruits opened after oue, 
two, and sometimes even three years. 
Bottles and Cans. — We have used 
a dozen diflerent kinds, and succeed- 
ed with most of them, but h.ave Latter- 
ly settled down upon a simple form 
of glass bottle, usually quart size, for 
everything but tomatoes, and iu part 
for these. Our chief failures have 
been with some tomatoes carefully 
put up iu glass bottles, which fer- 
mented ; yet we sh.all continue to use 
these, expecting that further expe- 
rience will secure unfailing success. 
We have never failed with tomatoes 
in sealed tin cans, large .and small, 
and they do not seem to act upou 
the tin at all. Glass is always pre- 
ferable, however, for all preserved 
fruits, etc., as unpleasant effects maij 
sometimes result from corrosiou. 
Any kind of glass bottles \^U an- 
swer, if the neck be large enough to 
receive the fruit handily, and of such 
form as to admit of tight corliing,— if 
soft corks of good quality can be ob- 
tained to fit them. If the corks are 
softened in hot water, pressed in 
firmly, aud covered tightly with wax 
and cloth tied over, or with a well 
waxed cloth tied on, they rmswer. 
A corked bottle inverted into a little 
tin dish or pattypan, or in a saucer, 
containing a spoonful or two of cement, is ef- 
fectuiilly closed, if care be taken not to leave any 
air bubbles arouud the edge. The cement used 
is, 133 ounces of tiiUow melted with 1 pound of 
common resin, iu a tin or iron vessel. Make iu 
quantity, and heat it up as often as needed ; every 
melting improves it. The only care required, in 
using wax for closing the bottle mouths, is to 
have the necks wiped clean after the fruit is put in, 
so that the wax will adhere firmly to the glass. 
We now mainly use some kind of the patented 
bottles with covers closing upon an ludia rubber 
ring, which dispenses with wax. Any form that 
will absolutely shut out all access of air, will answer 
every purpose. We use most of the "Baker," or 
" Potter & Bodine " Jar, which is a wide mouth- 
ed quart bottle, with a tifl or glass cover upou an 
India rubber ring, and held by a half oval damp 
that is pressed down by turning it into a half screw 
swelling or projection upou the outside of the bot- 
tle neck. These are quickly put on and taken off. 
Any good form of bottles, thongh costing most at 
first, will iu the end be the eueapest, as they will 
last for many years, with an occasional renewal of 
cheap rubber riugs. We seldom break more than 
one or three bottles in a hundred, iu a yeai-'s use. 
The Cooking Vessel.— The best is the iron-poree- 
laiu kettles, now quite commou, which are very 
