COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
June 12. 
by repeated practice, that provenders may be preserved 
two, three, and six years, there are many persons who 
still refuse to credit the fact.” 
After stating the experience he has had in the cellars 
of Champagne, in shops, manufactories, and warehouses 
of confectioners and grocers, for forty-five years, he 
proceeds to say—“ I owe to my extensive practice, and 
more especially to my long perseverance, the conviction : 
—“ 1st. That fire has the peculiar property, not only of 
changing the combination of the constituent parts of 
vegetable and animal productions, but also of retarding, 
for many years at least, if not of destroying, that natural 
tendency of those same productions to decomposition. 
“ 2nd. That the application of fire in a manner 
variously adapted to various substances, after having, 
with the utmost care, and as completely as possible, 
deprived them of all contact with the air, .effects a 
perfect preservation of those same productions with all 
their natural qualities. 
“ The details of the process consists principally—1st. 
In enclosing in bottles the substances to be preserved. 
2nd. In corking the bottles with the utmost care; for 
it is chiefly on the corking that the success of the 
process depends. 3rd. In submitting these enclosed 
substances to the action of boiling-water, in a water- 
bath, for a greater or less length of time, according to 
their nature, and in the manner pointed out with 
respect to each several kind of substance. 4th. In 
withdrawing the bottles from the water-bath at the 
period described.” 
As an example of his practice, we give his method of 
preserving Dwarf Kidney Beans. “ I cause the Beans to 
be gathered as for ordinary use. I string them, and put 
them in bottles, taking care to shake them on the stool, 
to fill the vacancies in the bottles. I tlien cork the 
bottles and put them in the water-bath, which is to boil 
an-hour-and-a-half. When the Beans are rather large, 
I cut them lengthways into two or three pieces, and 
then they do not require being in the water-bath longer 
than one hour.” 
When they are to be used he gives the following in. 
structions :—“ Scald the French Beans as if they were 
fresh, in water, with a little salt, when not sufficiently 
dressed by the preserving process. This often happens 
to them as well as to Artichokes, Asparagus, and Cauli¬ 
flowers. If sufficiently boiled, on being taken out of 
the bottles, I have only to wash them in hot water, in 
order to prepare them afterwards for vegetable or meat 
soup." 
This author furnishes several recipes for other veget¬ 
ables, all of which are on the bottling principle; but 
there is another process, which consists in evaporating 
the watery parts of vegetables and preserving them 
dry. We recollect, some eighteen years ago, receiving 
from Hamburgh or Holland, we forget which, a few 
packages of Sugar Peas, Kidney Beans, and other veget¬ 
ables, in this dried state, which, when cooked, were as 
well-flavoured as they would have been in the green 
state. These, we believe, were obtained by drying in 
chambers through which currents of heated air were in¬ 
175 
troduced; they were completely dried and shrivelled up, 
and had the appearance of strips of thick parchment or 
leather, until they were boiled, and then they swelled 
out to their usual dimensions. We have also seen 
Kidney Beans preserved by first boiling them tender, 
and afterwards drying them in a warm, airy place, when 
they may be kept for any length of time in bags or 
boxes, till ready for use. This drying process may be 
applied to Peas, Beans, Kidney Beans, Cabbages, 
Cauliflowers, Spinach, Beet, Parsnips, Carrots, Potatoes, 
&c., the latter being cut in slices. 
We are glad of this opportunity of bringing before 
our readers a subject which is of no small importance 
in these days of wars and emigration, when food, and 
particularly vegetable food, is so greatly desiderated ; 
and we do so also in the hope that it may induce them 
to communicate to us any information they may possess 
which may be made useful to others. There is no subject 
in domestic economy of which so little is known gene¬ 
rally as the preservation of vegetables, and vegetable 
cookery; and as it is our intention to devote some space 
to these subjects, we shall be glad to be furnished with 
any information on the subject which any of our readers 
have to give. We trust, therefore, that in our endeavours 
to disseminate information, we shall be seconded in our 
efforts by those who have the means of doing so. We 
know, for instance, that some Potatoes require steaming 
and others boiling, to have them in perfection; some 
require to be boiled in their skins, and some without; 
and we are informed by M. Soyer, that the soil in which 
the varieties of Potatoes are cultivated has a great deal 
to do with the mode in which they ought to be cooked. 
A few facts on such a subject as this might prove 
highly valuable, seeing there are so many opinions 
existing on “ how to cook a Potato.” 
Few, probably, will dissent from an opinion, that 
enough has been heard on the long-disputed points of 
nomenclature with respect to the fowls commonly 
known as “ Hamburghs.” We have no intention, there¬ 
fore, of either re-stating arguments already adduced, or 
of seeking further corroboratory evidence for either 
party, but would merely avail ourselves of the various 
“ exparte ” statements, so far as they may enable us to 
draw conclusions on the general bearing of the case. 
Granted the fact, that Hamburgh is not proved to be 
the original habitat of these birds (both the Pencilled 
and Spangled varieties are here spoken of), but, we may 
ask, is the claim of any other one locality better estab¬ 
lished? Many may say “yes;” but to this we must 
demur, since more than one English county might 
allege their right to bestow a name; while, if we lay 
aside geographical considerations, the catalogue of 
popular synonymes is tenfold more numerous; and 
here, too, there appears no fact of sufficient importance 
to stamp any one appellation with the accuracy re¬ 
quisite for its general recognition. 
Common characteristics are not wanting in both 
the “Spangled” and “Pencilled” birds which reason- 
