TROUBLE FOR THE CANNING EXPERT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 282, 21 August 1908, Page 3

TROUBLE FOR THE CANNING EXPERT.

ANGRY LADIES. THE DISQUALIFIED BOTTLES OF , - FRUIT. VIRTUES OF . VACUUM, v Apparently great numbers of' the good ladies of Palmerston North aro not at nil •pleased with tho Government canning export, .Mr. Jaques. ; / v.. Mr.' Jaques's particular offenco is that ho disqualified all; their bottled fruit at .tho . .. last Manawatu Winter. Show because it lacked vacuums:'- Vacuums (absence of air), • tho ;various , scientists toll us, are necessary ' to . prevent the . contents of tho bottles from decaying: but-the,-. ordinary housewife who has bottled fruit all her life without vacuums, sets up the counter theory that vacuums and all other new-fangled concoctions aro - just humbug. She accordingly—so says a newspaper correspondent—has decreed that Mr. Jaques shall not-be allowed the privilege of sitting in % judgment on her bottles' of/fruit at tho Manawatu; shows any longer. The virtues of vacuum,-gimplo as the question may appear to tho well-versed canning expert, are, we, fear, too' to be fully grasped by the lay ladj; from a single column of newspaper, description. It is, necessary that MrS, Jaques should deliver'a. fow more of his lucid lectures on the subject. But meanwhile he has been invited to reply to this painful feminine attack. "Not going to let me judge any more?" 1,.' ho exclaimed in" his brisk way. " Why is . , that ?" : ~ '-. Because disqualified all their bottled. ■ fruit for want of vacuum. Have you any--1 thing to say in mitigation? _ ' , "My 'dear man, bottled/fruit without, a vacuum' is unsound. It is as bad as a horse with stringhalt or ringbone. Would you givo . a horso of that/character a', championship?" But' the ladies* say! their bottled' fruit al-' ways tasted very nice before you introduced tho science of vacuum. " That" reminds mo of a little'experience T had ; in district. A friend of mine said, ■' Come and see my wife's bottled' fruit. ■ She makes tho best bottled friiit in the district.' ;So I 'went 'and examined it.' It had no vacuum in it. I said to the gentleman's. : wife, 'Why, my good l&dy; it's fermented.'- She said ' What's that ? ; What do you mean?' I said. 'Don't.you notice a peculiar ,flavour?' She said, 'It has a '. -beery taste, if that's:what ; you.mean."' / Isn't that sort of flavour sometimes ap- . predated? . ... ; \ , ■ <"It is not good for people to give their children fermented fruit.". But tho ladies say they haye bottled tho fruit in their way for generations past, and it has'aiot gone bad. \ It keeps good appar-' ently : for a few weeks ? ; _ ■ _ ... "But'properly bottled fruit will keep good for years. Look at this fruit—part -of our ,'. exhibits at the 'Christchurch Exhibition. It's * Vacuum!" he exclaimed, as a tap by a finger tip on the metal top drew forth : a dull, cracked, empty sound. " We've sent some- bottled: fruit to tho Franco-British Ex- ... hibition in London." ; .-" t , / : You, didn't, have to' mark it, " This side .' Up ?" ' -' - '■ ■ : "No. Why?" :* To prevent, the juice from running out. . '.'Certainly not." He seemed pained, at the bare suggestion of a necessity.' .'"lt can be turned up -anyhow," he protested, "without damage." A bottle' may be air-tight, but still , have no .vacuum? -■ - • ■ "That is correct. Wo had a bottlo sent . in to us tho. other day that burst' in the cellar! ; . It. sent the-top flying up to. the "., ceiling!with all the contents. It had'been air-tight, but had no vacuum, and the con- . tents emitted gases', which-burst the bottle." . ' If. it had. not be.en,.iiir-tight7-r^? ' ''Then the bottle "would not have burst, because' tho gas could have -escaped but' a dry - mouldwould , have formed on the top of;tho fruit.". ' . .' !. Did nono of the bottles at the Manawatu - Show.possess vacuum? "One or two. in; some of tho exhibits, but ■ others in tho same exhibits lacked it, which showed that its existence,at all was merely accidental. To award prizes to these exhibits would have beon to , encourage the exhibitors to. continuo_ bottling fruit in tho -. same..faulty manner'in .future. r . The fault, is a : serious /one, arid the remedy quite ■ easy. x Tho process is clearly set out in words ihat any person,can undorstarid in my pamphlet, which is obtainable from the' Department. I have received letters from all parts of the Dominion approving of my de- . - cision at .the show. -• One. gentleman, who called at my office, said ho had bottled six- > teen cases of fruits in accordance with my instructions, ' and they were , the finest pre-' : i : serves he had ever had. Not a single bottlo • . was faulty. He was ,a chemist, and therefore .qualified to .speak authoritatively." ... Did the ladies attack you at I the show? " "One lady expressed, her displeasure that no award had been made, and I, induced her to stay and hear my lecture, promising to'refer to the points that chiefly interested her early in the lecture, in order , that she might- bo able to leave 'to catch her train. She attended the lecture, and stayed till the end, and me aftorwar-fe that , , she decided to miss her. train 1 rather 'than miss any of the lecture, with- which she was'particularly gratified. - When these ladies succeed in exhibiting fruit at -tho Mana- . watu Show bottled, in tho correct manner, then the first prize will in truth bo an ' honour worth being proud'of. The awarding ; , of prizes at that show:'ought to'be educative instead _of being just an empty ■ compliment : that neither satisfies nor educates nor. tends to progress. The result of. a suitable, va- «' cuum on the bottled fruit is that the atmospheric influence ■ upon the contents is rendered-inactive,'and. there is no fermenting, and , the quality and flavour of tho fruit when taken into use, aro equal to those ■ of the fresh-fruit. , My pamphlet, which is for distribution, explains the whole blisi- , ness."