Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1865-08-24
NUMBER "a.


case demands, and in most instances, is i'm
medlately placed in clean glass bottles, filling
them full; and when such fruit as peaches,
pears, ounces, &C., are cut in large pieces, Il
is best to take some pains to croud the fruif
into the bottle-otherwise the heating process,
will not leave the bottle properly filled with
fruit.
Next prepare syrup Of melted refined or
white sugar. and pour into the bottles by the
following rule: Allow six ounces of sugar
to one quart of fruit or melt ten pounds Of
sugar to one gallon of water, and give one
half pint OF the syrup thus produced to one
quart bottle OF fruit. This rule is adapted to-
the strawberry, cherry, peach and other simi-
lar fruits More acid fruits, like the currant,
require greater proportion Of sugar. Sugar,
Tor few years, and especially the present
season, has been so high that the temptation
has been for those who put up fruit for sale to-
make the proportion of sugar much less
than the above rule requires, and some parties
have acknowledged that they had reduced the
quantity of sugar to three ounces for one
quart OF fruit. Fruit put up air tight will, of
course, keep just as well without sugar as
with it, but it is thought much better to heat
the fruit in syrup, rather than to heat it in
water and apply the sugar as it is used for
the table.
"The filed bottles are then placed in
steaming box-best if made throughout Of
wood-the bottles rest upon false bottom of
narrow Stats, covering the steam pipe-cold
water is then let into the box until the bottles
are two-thirds covered the fruit is gradually
heated to boiling point by letting steam into
the water, through apipe leading from the
engine room in another portion Of the build
ing 1T requires from fity-fve to sixty minu-
tes to properly heat or cook most kinds of
fruits. They are commonly allowed to boil
five minutes, but in some instances are taken
out of the steambox' before they reach the
boiling point r,
"Corks are made sufficiently flexible by
steaming them twenty minutes with the fruit.
They should be large enough to fill the neck
of the bottle tightly and require some force
to crowd them in. Form erly one cork, as pro-
cured OF dealers, was made to stop two bottles,
but now it is considered better to use a cork
for each bottle. ....a -.....
Until last year the community used for
sealing wax compound of the following pro-
portions h. of rosin, u o. tallow, 8 OF.
beeswax; but common boatpitch is now used,
and is found to answer quite as well, and is
much cheaper. 1t is prepared by first being
boiled few minutes, and then heated every
time batch of fruit is to be sealed.
"The fruit being sufficiently heated, the
corks steamed, and the boatpitch ready the
bottles are taken successfully to table and
quickly corkcd. The corks may be forced in
by blow from mallet, or better BY a small
level arrangement, or best by such a machine
as that used here, and i'll other fruit establish
ments, which, worked by hand and foot per-
forms this operation easily and rapidly. The
portion of cork remaining above the bottle is
pared off with sharp knife. and left in con.
veN form.
Some fruit preservers, at this stage, pack
their fruit away, laying the bottles down on
the side and trusting to the cork, thus kept
moist, to exclude the air, and sealing the bot
ties when they fill orders for the market, and
when they arc less hurried; but the Commu-
nlty have always sealed their fruit immediate
y after it is cooked, which is done by dipping,
the mouth Of the bottle into the melted seal
lng-waX, so as to cover the bulb. Then trans
fer it to basin of cold water, dipping to the
same depth, to cool the wax. If the dipping
Is carried below the bulb or rim at the mouth
Oh the bottle, there Is danger OF cracking the
glass Now examine the sealed part to see
Il the wax has formed bllsters; II there are
busters, rub them !awayiwlth the hnSer, using
a little tallow or OIL to prevent sticking. 1t
was ". formerly tnought necessary to repeat tne
ealPplng operation IN wax and water but 1t
Is Is now zone only when the ilrst dipping leaves
the cork lmpertecty covered r;..e5.
"Thc operation is now completed, and the
fruit is ready to be packed away on shelves
or in chests, in q cool dry cellar. If placed
on shelves, cloth should be hung before
them to exclude the light In few days af.
ter packing away. inspect the bottles, to sec
if any show signs of fermentation, which may
be detected by foamy appearance of the
fruit. If these are observed in any bottle it
denotes either a crack in the glass, or the
sealing wax was imperfect. The bottle should
be opened and examined, the contents scad-.
ed and the process OF sealing repeated as be-
fore. In some cases during the season,
little vegetable mould may be seen to gather
on the seriace OF the irut IN the bottle; put
this is not to be regarded, as it can be readily
separated on opening the bottles, leaving the
mass m ass OF fruit uninjured. ~
'fThere is variety of methods practiced in
preserving tomatoes. Our people scald and
peal them, and then place them IN steam
boiler, where they are boiled from twenty
minutes to half an hour. The bottles are
filled directly from the boilcr--having been
nreviouslv Lcated IN n stoam boy. so Ms In