1866 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
At these meetings too much time is usually 
devoted to general desultory debate, and per¬ 
haps the 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 allo-wcd on the papers, confin¬ 
ing the discussions to things without inuendoes 
coBcerniug persons, or flings at localities. If 
papers were written and read, we should be 
spared loose talk and going over the same 
ground several times, as is tfle 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, and that its proceedings 
shall be of a value that will make 
them sought for as exponents of 
our present pomological knowl¬ 
edge, and indices of our progress. 
process, to develop the odor. It is said that the 
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 be found to be frosted with minute crys¬ 
tals which are the aromatic principle. The name 
of the plant is Vanilla aromatica; Vanilla is a Span¬ 
ish word, meaning a little pod. The Tonqua Bean, 
Sweet-scented Vernal-grass, Seneca-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 in fla¬ 
voring, and the “Extracts of Vanilla” are fre¬ 
quently wholly, or in 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 Vanilla largely used to flavor ice cream, but for 
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-^ 
matic, probably but few know an}'- 
thing more about it than that it is a 
sort of beau, as the article is known' 
in commerce under the name of 
“ Vanilla beans.” Vanilla is one of 
the few economical products of that 
remarkable family of plants known 
as Orchids, or Orchidaccoe, so prized 
by the florist for the great beauty of 
its flowers, and so interesting to the 
botanist for the wonderful 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 in 
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; 
hence when these plants are culti¬ 
vated in our hot-houses the}' are 
popularly known as “air plants.” 
The Vanilla differs from most other orchids in being 
a climbing vine, such as we have shown in the en¬ 
graving, elothing a dead trunk of a tree. It throws 
out great numbers of serial roots, by which it clings, 
and i)roduces very thick shining leaves. The flow¬ 
ers of the Vanilla are not as showy as those of 
most of the family, and are produced in clusters 
that are suceeeded by bunches of long slender 
pods, which are the “ beans ” of commerce. In 
May last an account was given of the way in which 
insects conveyed the pollen from the stamens of 
the Iris and other flowers to the pistils, and more is 
said on the same subject on p. 257 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 in 
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 8 inches 
long, narrow, three-sided, and if allowed to remain 
on the plant, finally burst into three valves or 
parts, and scatter the minute black seeds. The 
pods are gathered when fully developed, dried in 
the sun, and afterward rolled up in parcels where 
they undergo a sort of fermentation, or sweating 
custards, Russes, cakes, and many other delicacies. 
Probably a reliahle extract is the handiest form in 
which to use it. The best way to use the bean it¬ 
self is to beat it in a mortar, with sufficient loaf 
sugar to finely divide and 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, peaehes, cherries and currants, and the con¬ 
centrated costly jars of preserves to be brought out 
only for “ company,” or special occasions, it is now 
easy, and economical in money as well as in health, 
to have a daily supply of good, naturally fiavored, 
almost fresh ijie-plant, strawberries, cherries, 
blackberries, raspberries, peaches, q)ears, huckle¬ 
berries, apple sauce, etc. The fruit thus kept, is 
healthful, and 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 accomplishing the object, and each season 
brings out from half a dozen to two dozen new de¬ 
vices. In what follows, we speak wholly from home 
experience, remarking that we have latterly been 
almost uniformly successful in securing a full sup¬ 
ply of various fruits, that have been agreeable 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, and sugar. 
The Fruits. —Fruits of all kinds are easily pre¬ 
served, as arc also rhubarb or pie-plant, and toma¬ 
toes. The main supply of fruits proper for -the year 
consists, in the order of abundance : 1st, of peaches, 
when plenty; 2nd, strawberries ; 3cl, cherries, when 
plenty ; 4, pears ; 5, raspberries and blackberries ; 6, 
huckleberries, etc. Apple-sauce is put up plenti¬ 
fully .at different seasons, usually in the bottles first 
used for other fruits. Pie-plant and tomatoes, are 
preserved in large quantities,so as to have an .abund¬ 
ance whenever wanted, until they come again. In¬ 
deed, all the fruits are put aip in sup¬ 
ply to last until a new crop of each, 
and in a season of special abun¬ 
dance, a two years’ stock is laid in. 
We seldom find much difference in 
bottles of fruits opened after one, 
two, and sometimes even three years. 
Bottles and Cans. —We have used 
a dozen different kinds, and succeed¬ 
ed with most of them, but have Latter¬ 
ly settled dow'u upon a simple form 
of glass bottle, usually qu.art size, for 
everything but tomatoes, and in part 
for these. Our chief fiiilures have 
been with some tomatoes carefully 
put up in glass bottles, w'hich fer¬ 
mented ; yet we shall continue to use 
these, expecting that further expe¬ 
rience will secure unfailing success. 
We have never failed w'ith tomatoes 
in sealed tin cans, large and small, 
and they do not seem to act upon 
the tin at all. Glass is always pre¬ 
ferable, however, for all preserved 
fruits, etc., as unpleasant effects may 
sometimes result from corrosion.- 
Any kind of glass bottles will an¬ 
swer, if the neck be large enough to 
receive the fruit handily, and of such 
form as to admit of tight corking,—if 
soft corks of good quality can be ob¬ 
tained to fit them. If the corks are 
softened in hot water, pressed in 
firmly, and covered tightly with wax 
and cloth tied over, or with a well 
waxed cloth tied on, they answer. 
A corked bottle inverted into a little 
tin dish or patty-pan, or in a saucer, 
containing a spoonful or two of cement, is ef¬ 
fectually closed, if care be taken not to leave any 
air bubbles around the edge. The cement used 
is, \}i ounces of tallow melted with 1 pound of 
common resin, in a tin or iron vessel. Make in 
quantity, aud 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 India rubber 
rinir, 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 
“ PoUer & Bodine ” Jar, which is a wide-mouth¬ 
ed quart bottle, with a tin or glass cover upon an 
India rubber ring, and held by a half oval clamp 
that is pressed down by turning it into a h.alf screw 
swelling or projection upon the outside of the bot¬ 
tle neck. These are quickly put on and taken off. 
Any good form of bottles, though costing most at 
first, will in the end be the cheapest, as they will 
last for many years, with an occasional renewal of 
cheap rubber rings. We seldom break more than 
one or three bottles in a hundred, in a yeaPs use. 
The CooJcing FmeL—The best is the iroii-porce- 
laiu kettles, now quite common, which are very 
