The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-09-16
Preserving Fruits.

Inc tlne Is at nand, says the OHIO
Farmer, when housewives become
anxious about laying in store of fruit
In an unperishable condition. This is
| part of the business of the farm that
| all parties are interested in, and a few
words here, by way of advice and sug-
gestion, will not be out of place.
Technically bottling'' and "can-
ning'' are different Putting the fruit
in glass jars or bottles, with either
corks or lids, and fastening them down
by atmospheric pressure or otherwise,
is called bottling, while putting the fruit
In tin cans is canning. These terms
are often COMPOUNDED or used inter-
changeably. Bottling is the more com.
mon process in domestic operations,
and Tor home use is more simple, and,
on the whole. less expensive, as the
bottles or jars may be used for several
years, and when put up with care the
fruit is quite as good as when put into
tin cans
The first requisite in bottling is to
have good variety to retain flavor.
Strawberries come so early that they
are difficult to keep with perfect flavor,
yet put up with care, alright. they can
be kept. The bottles should be buried
in the cool earth, either in a box or
simply in the ground, kept from the
light and as cool as possible. In this
way they retain flavor nicely and make
a delightful change on the table later On
in the year. Cherries, raspberries.
whortleberries and blackberries come
on in the order named, and should be
put up and treated with equal care.
Peaches should not become soft before
putting up. Hale's Early retains its
flavor as well as any variety, though its
coming SO early makes it more difficult
to keep, but if buried in the earth, as
before described, there is much less
danger. The yellow varieties, though
less delicate in flavor, possess more of
the peculiar peach flavor (hydrocyanic
acid). and are generally preferred as
best retaining the peach taste. The
white varieties should all be put I'D
when quite hard. The stone increases
the peach flavor and hence many pre-
fer to put them up whole. Those who
talk of saving the labor of pairing by
taking off the skin in very hot I've or
caustic soda, do not know much of the
richness of the fruit is destroyed. Pare
them by all means, unless for picking,
when the fuzz may be rubbed off with
flannel cloth or crash towel.
For domestic use, all the sugar needed
to flavor should be made into sirup
and put into the bottles or cans when
the fruit is put up. Cook the fruit in
porcelain-lined vessel or brass kettle:
cook until heated thoroughly through,
so as to expel the air; put hot into
the jars; fill up full with the prepared
sirup, boiling hot and put in corks or
put on covers when as hot as possible.
A quarter of pound of sugar to a
pound of prepared fruit is about right.
1t corks are used, cover them right
away with a preparation of rosin and
tallow. to prevent the passage of air
through them. Well-ftting corks
are used for two inch mouth bottles.
The melted rosin and tallow should be
ready and convenient and the corks or
tops OF jars dipped into it while hot.
AS good fruit as we ever ate was kept
in this way. Glass jars with covers
easily adjusted will keep fruit very nice
ly, if put on with care.
Peaches. pears and plums, also to-
matoes and cucumbers, may be kept
perfectly by packing them in fine salt,
in stone jars, allowing them to make
their own brine. They must be kept
covered with salt until the brine made
by the salt and extracted juice covers
them; then kept under this brine till
wanted for use, when they must be
soaked in several waters until fresh
enough to put into vinegar. We have
eaten fruit kept thus for two years. 1t
makes change grateful to some appe-
tltes, especially to lovers of pickles.