Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-08-20
L. BARTLETT.
SHAKER VILLAGE. Y. H., Jeae %.

SHAKER VILLAGE, Y. H., Jcae %.
ESTEEMED COUSIN LEyI-Agr55ably to
your desire, | write to inform you Of the
manner in which We have preserved fruit
and vegetables for several years past,
With a good degree of success.
First. When the fruit is well ripened
it should be gathered and dressed while
fresh. carefully avoiding all that is imler-
feet, soft or decaying. Apples, pears, &c,
should be quartered and cooked in water
as for immediate use, with care that the
quarters are kept whole as is consistent.
Inc same should be regarded with other
fruit. hen the fruit is nearly cooked, if
YOU wish to sweeten. add sugar or mclasses
70 the taste, and let boil ill tloI odghly
seslded together, then put into the Yes
sci boiling hot.
We Use tin cans, of sizes from a pint to
a gallon, stone jars of various dimensions,
and glass jars made on purpose for pre-
serving fruit. Glass bottles of any des-
crip;ion answer a good purpose for small
berries, if completely filed and hermetical-
ly sealed; but We prefer vessels with an
aperture or mouth sufficiently large, at
least, to admit a tablespoon.
The cans, jars or bottles should be per-
fectly clean and sweet, and before they
ale used should be filled with boiling water,
which should be emptied Immediately be-
fore being filed with sauce. Care should be
used to have the vessel completely filed
wi h fruit to pIevep. the admission of at
mospheric air, which is liable to cause fer
incubation.
The top of the vessel should be wiped
perfectly dry before sealing, that the wax
may adhere to every part of the groove
and cover. If glass bottles, stone or errth-
eru jugs are uscu Lne cor IS should be driv-
en- into the ne rs thereof even with the
mouth. and tightly sealed 10 exclude every
particle Of air.
The sealing wax is made of rosin / OF to
!, z. OF beet or mutteD tallow melted TO-
gether, aud after the cover is placed on TO
he truIt-can as close as it can be, turned
into grooves made for the purpose, when
hot, but Lot boiling. Let stand till cool,
hen place the vessels in a cellar or cool
room where, if uudisturbed, the fruit may
remain for years in a state Of preservation,
if not exposed to frost.
n. b. When the can or bottle is open
for use, there is frequently. even with the
best preserved fruit, a scum or coat of
mold on the surface. which should be care
fully removed with spoon, or if The mouth
OF the vessel is too small to insert a spoon,
use a CORK screw or wire hooked at one
end. before the fruit is enptied out. Care
should be taken to remove every particle,
else it will hurt the favor of the sauce
Be careful also not to let the crumbs of
the sealing wax be mixed with sauce,
! which would cause d bad taste.
We preserve in this way, hundreds Of
gallons of the various fruits and berries
that grow on our own soil, for our own con-
sumption and for the market. Apples,
rears, ounces, ~currants. gooseberries,
raspberries, blackberries, blueberries,
strawberries, grapes, tomatoes and garden
rhubarb or pieplant. The foregoing va
rieties may be equally preserved with or
without sw~eetening, as best suits the taste
and convenience. We have tried to pre-
serve =leen sweet corn, green beans, peas,
Sc. gu githout success. Green currants
MAJ De e sly preserved.
Although III cans are considerably used
with Us, yet Nc are careful not to put into
them the most acid fruits, such as very
sour apples, g~ooseberries, currants, and
the like, as the acid is liable to corrode the
tin and injure the favor of the fruit.
Glass We consider preferable to any other
material in which to preserve such fruits.
Cranberries can be preserved in perfec-
ton, without cooking. in large quantities.
by spreading them on a frame covered with
canvas. and placed in a cool room excluded
from the light of the sun although they
may shrink one half their bigness, they will
resume nearly their original size BY soak
ing them a few hours in cold water be-
fore they are cooked. A few quarts. or
less quantity, can be kept equally well in
a bag made of thin white cotton or linen
cloth. aud hung in a cool room as above.
This fruit should be carefully looked over,
aud all the dirt, leaves, OF soft and decay.
ing berries removed before they are put IN
to a bag or elsewhere for safe-keeping.
If you desire a very rice article, and
white. of preserved apples or pears, stew
the fruit in small quantities, in tin, sweet
with white crushed sugar. and put into
glass jars as quick as possible.
If the foregoing directions prove of any
benefit to your family or friends, the CON-
municatiOn thereof will give me pleasure.
Respectfully yours.
HtDDTEr Ii CTTEnC !