PRESERVATION OF SURPLUS FRUIT.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7524, 14 April 1890, Page 6

PRESERVATION OF SURPLUS FRUIT.

One of the female contributors to the American Agriculturist some time ago gave Co that journal a few very useful directions for the practice of the art pf canning in a domestic way, the substance of which is here reproduced in the hope that each information ma; prove useful to some of oar gardening readers, who may have more fruit than they can immediately dispose of. It must be borne in mind that there are three essential points in canning. First, the fruit or vegetables must be boiling hot when pat up; secondly, the vessel must be filled to tbe very brim, leaving no interval for the air; thirdly, the vessel must be

I sealed op perfectly airtight. If yottjglfil all these conditions, the canned article will Be sure to keep. The writer proceeds to say :—Wβ often hear the question debated amongst house* keepers as to whether ifc is best to use glass or tin for canning. I would advise a houseieeperto compromise by using some of both, though for my own part, I have sac* cceded better with tin. Glass, however, has some advantages over tin, but it requires more careful handling and more careful protection from both heat and cold. The action of sunlight on glass jars has a tendency to make the fruit lor vegetable in them ferment. You ought, therefore, to keep your glass jars in a cool, dark place in summer and the earl} autumn, removing them, to a warmer place in winter, or putting an oil stove in the Closet with them, in very cold weather, as freezing destroys both the glass jars and their contents. A nice way to can fruit in jars is to put the fruit in the jars as soon as you have peeled it, adding a little water. .Then put several jar t> in a large baking pan or dish pan on top of the stove partly filled with cold water, and leave the jars in this vessel till the fruit gradually comes to a boil, the vessel slowly getting hot at the same time, and of course the fruit will shrink as it gets hot and require to be replenished, so you will have to use the fruit out of one jar to fill up the others. When it has reached the boiling poi nt, screw up the j are, first filling them to the very brim, and for three days following repeat the screwing of the tops, as you can never screw them really tight the first time. If there is no sign of fermentation on the fourth day, you may feel pretty secure of its keeping. If you cannot command a dark place for your glass jars, tie layers of brown paper around them to keep out the sunlight. Not only are canned peaches and pears very nice but canned apples are equally so. In the early autumn, pick out such apples as are a little specked, or which do not keep well through the winter. Peel and core them, cut them up in small bits, and pour enough water over them to keep them from sticking to the kettles. Stew them down fine,: and run. them through a colander as if you were making apple float. Then can them, and you will find them very serviceable in winter, either just eaten with cream and sugar, or made into pies or a valise pudding. Sliced apples for frying are also nice for canning, put on in a little hot water, and allowed to come to a boil before canning. They are far more palatable than dried apples. Ido not think it worth while to put sugar on canned fruit, as it adds nothing to its keeping, and if the fruit spoils Increases your loss. It is time enough to sweeten the fruit just before yoa put it on the table. If you run short of preserves during the winter, you can readily convert your canned fruit into these. Canned peaches, if they are soft, make as good ice cream as fresh ones. Some house-keepers, intent on lessening their trouble (like the pilgrim who boiled the peas in' his boot), can and preserve on an oil or charcoal stove which they get out under the trees, in hot weather, but I always find it more convenient to carry on these processes in the kitchen, with all the various utensils I need at hand; and besides, I can preserve or can in several vessels at once on the kitchen stove. I think it is a good plan for a housekeeper to can a little every day, instead of going at it with a rush every now and then. Whenever you have a gallon of tomatoes more than you need for table use, it is well to begin canning; directly after breakfast, or after dinner is the best time, —the former if you have only a few to can. In this case put them in a large bowl, or dish-pan, before breakfast, pour scalding water over them and cover them, and they will then be ready to peel and put on, immediately after breakfast, before the fire dies out in the stove. Get together everything you will need before you begin canning. Lay an old newspaper on the kitchen table to protect it from any tomato juice or cement that may be spilled, and set the cans on this paper. I have diecovered that you can ooil tomatoes perfectly well in iron dinner-pots washed free from grease, and this plan saves you a world of scouring which the use of a brass kettle would necessitate, as tomatoes turn brass green. When the tomatoes come to a boil, dip them up with a tin dipper and pour them into the cans. Have at hand a lot of soft, clean old rags to wipe the rim of the tin can perfectly dry, after filling IC* . . I cannot insist too strenuously on the importance of having thin rim bone dry; one drop of moisture on it will cause the cement to fall off in a few days, and the contents of the can to consequently ferment. I lost my cans steadily for three years till some experienced housekeeper pointed out to mc the vital importance of having the rim of the can bone dry. Since then 1 have been highly successful in canning. I pass a soft, old cloth twenty times around the rim to make sure that it is perfectly dry. Taper cement is very nice, and saves much trouble. If you use stick cement,.keep an old frying-pan to melt it in, and a pewter teaspoon to apply it with. Drop it from the point of this spoon into the groove intended for it, after tightly fitting down the top. If you hear a hissing scfund when you are dropping the cement, it indicates the presence of moisture, and you must stop short and wipe the rim again. The general directions given above for canning Tomatoes will apply in all essential particulars to any fruit or vegetable. The main thing, as we have said above, is to put up the article boiling hot, fill the vessel brira-full, and make it perfectly air tight. The same cans may be used for several years, if you will have them well washed and dried immediately after emptying them, and scour any stains that may appear on them. Put them away promptly till the next season. If you leave them out they will get battered, stained up and lost. Fit the right top on to each one, as you put it away. There is a surprising diversity in the size of tops, and no canned article will keep unless the tops fits perfectly. The name cement, too, may be used for several years, if it is carefully put ' away. See that you have sound cans j before you begin to can. I have known housekeepers to lose weeks of labour by not testing this point beforehand. Set your cans on a perfectly dry table and fill .hem with, water, before you attempt to fill them with fruit or vegetables. In this w ay, you can detect whether they leak or not, and if they do, you con either have them exchanged or re-soldered. Canning adds so largely to the comfortof a household that I do not think a house keeper ought to begrudge any amount of time and pains employed in mastering the art.