The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-08-28
COOKED FRUIT BY THE TON.
How Summer Fruits are Tenderly Cared for
and Preserved Against Winter Feasts.
From the New York World1

fruits, putting up the winters supply
OF JelIes and preserves, could visit the
establishment through which a World
reporter was yesterday instructed to 90.
they would probably open their mouths
as wide in delighted astonishment as
ever did any juvenile supervisor of their
own labors. This was the largest man.
ufactory of sirups and preserves in the
city. 1t is situated on the west side of
town and occupies what was formerly a
couple of dwelling-hOuses, but are now
united under a single roof. The good
danes might perhaps at first be inclined
to throw up their hands in holy horror
at the untidiness of the place. There
are no whitewashed walls, no old-fash-
ioned chimney-place with oaken mantel
above, no smooth, shining deal-tables,
no glitter of dairy-pans, no well worn
hearth-stOne, not even a solemn ticking
clock in the corner, and rs for cats, no
sleek creatures of that species would
ever purr more than once in this estab-
Eshment. But when it comes right
down to the preserve making business
there isn't a kitchen in ChristendOm
that can approach the place. The floors
are uncarpeted, and not over clean, men
rush about in their shirt-sleeves, and
pert young women, whom no New Eng
land housekeeper would tolerate for
day, fly hither and thither, their
dresses and aprons covered with the
stains of fruit and their arms barred for
action. In one corner are couple of
great steam engines, and overhead run
leather belts connecting with all sorts of
strange looking machines. Set against
the wall is a line of great copper tubs,
around which, from the engines in the
Of 1fa Oh,
boiler is amply large enough to hold all
the preserve stew that a dozen ordinary
families would need for twelvemOnth
And yet they are all continually full,
sending forth in proper seasons the
aroma of peaches, of plums, of straw
berries. This is the establishment, or
rather one of the largest establishments,
from whence the city housekeeper, who
was never intended by nature to make
preserves, draws her sweetmeat sup
plies. The probabilities are that she
doesn't know this fact herself, having
always found them when needed on the
grocer's shelves, but this great untidy
place is nevertheless where they come
from. To be sure, the wholesale pre-
serving and canning business is a COM
paratively new industry, but like many
modern things, it Is colossal. Very pO-
lite was the proprietor of this establish
ment to the reporter, letting him snuff
and taste the flavor of lOng-fOrgOtten
fruits, and showing him the minutest
workings of the business. On one side
of the room were huge casks of olives
swimming still in the brine into which
they had been dropped in Spain. No
olives, the proprietor said, are ever i'm
ported except in this way. 1t is the du-
ty of the preserve manufacturers to res
cue them from this unsayOry bath, and
bottle them in a more appetizing liquid
afterwards.
Il suppose" said the reporter,
- there are seasons of the year when you
find nothing to can or preserve and are
obliged to take Il vacation?''
No." replied the preserver, "you
would think SO, but that isn't the case.
Each month brings its respective fruits
or vegetables, and we are kept pretty
busy all the year round. -
For instance, what do you begin
with?''
Well, the preserver's year properly
| begins in April, when we take hold of
asparagus. CThe parlance of the trade
| seems to admit of no other expression
| than .. taking hold of - the various ma
terials.) ''Then,'' he continued, '' in
May we take hold of pineapples. Soon
after this STRAWBERRIES come along. We
do a great deal with strawberries. We
preserve them like this" (holding up a
glass jar in which Strawberries perfectly
intact were seen floating about), - and
we make Jelly of them, and lastly we
extract their juice for sirup.'
''Where do you buy your fruit?'' ask
ed the reporter. q An, that is one OF
the great features of the preserver' 5
trade There is every thing in buying.
We watch the shipments to this city and
keep our eyes open for glut day.
Fruit, YOU know, won't keep, and as we
won't buy it when it Is at all damaged,
there is Just Il certain moment when the
bargain has to be struck. The fruit
dealers hold on to the last moment
hoping to get better customers, and we
watch them and their fruit at the same
time. The result is we usually
manage to get all we want
at our own prices. After Strawberries
come cherries. We take hold of great
many cherries. The great difficulty il
preserving cherries used to be the mum
Der of hands and the length of time i
took to pit them We've had 800 girl:
in this place at one time pitting cherries
from morning till night, and even ther
it was slow work. So after a while we
saw we had got to set our wits to wOrF
or give up the cherry business. The re
suit of our planning was the inventiO-
of this machine. We hold the paten
for it and we won't sell one for less thar
So, 1000" So saying the proprietor
tpointed out to the reporter an inOffensive
looking concern which the latter was in
formed could take the stones out o
cherries so fast that 125 girls cOuldn'
pull the stems from them rapidly enough
to keep the machine employed. 1t haC
an immense roller covered with littl,
cups just large enough each to hold ;
single cherry. When the machine IS il
motion system of trusses sweeps tht
fruit into these little receptacies. In th'
bottom of each cup Is a hole sufficiently
large to admit the passage OF the pit
As the roller revolves a number of littl'
lancets running in and out of the cup
stab the fruit and permit the stones t.
fall out through the holes described
This time and labor-saving arrangement
is said to be able to take the stones from
eight tons of cherries in ten hours
Since during the cherry season 1T Is KEEP
running from morning to night, It serves
perhaps, better than any thing else t.
illustrate the extent of this WHOLESALE
preserving business.
- After cherries - continued the will
ing informant, .'we take hold Of currant
and blackberries. Don't do much witt
currants, except jelly" (There was ;
laconic tinge about the conversation
which, to a hearer, was only fascinating
- CTrant jelly, however, as you know
is an immense item. BlackberTies w
preserve, jelly and make into brandy
About this time tomatoes come along
l. II too
and also make a good deal Of catsup
Lima beans come after tomatoes, an,
then follow plums. We find that tn
o.,lr- LII ,,l--,,- -.ita Lie fnr. asa1N