Arizona republican., 1921-06-15
Wor71ar''s Meeting Held By Peoria
 Form Bureau

:, For the purpose of familiarizing tne housewives of the community witn the various methods of hand ling figs in addition to the more common preserving methods, the Peoria Farm Bureau held a women's meeting Tuesday afternoon, June A. Miss Flossie D. Mills, home demon straflon agent, was the principal eNe{Aer, dwelling mostly on the fact t figs are among our richest fruits inT protein and food value and ex- plaining how to can and dry them.
 The canning method is simple and very much like canning any other sort of fruit. Not too ripe, nor, for that matter, too immature figs should De chosen and cleaned carefully Then they may be immersed in boil ing water for two minutes, after which they should be dipped in cold water time or two. immediately re- moved and packed in hot steril. jars closely. If the old type of Mason jars are used, rubbers should then be adjusted and the jars filled with a medium syrup made from equal parts of sugar and water and boiled for five minutes. Then the lids should be ad- lusted, not too tight, ordinarily about as tightly as can be accomplished with the thumb and little finger. The jars are then put in canner and processed in hot water bath for 16 minutes, or in a steam pressure cooker. with five pounds of pressure, for 10 minutes Canned figs approx Innate the flavor of fresh stewed figs. They are generally used as a sauce. Many folks accustomed mainly to fig preserves of jam do not like canned figs as well as other sorts, but the flavor appeals to q great number.
 If the figs are to be peeled the blanching should be omitted. and the figs dipped in a lye solution of one to a gallon of cold water and brought to boiling. The figs are left in this boiling solution IS to 3o seconds, or until the skins check and split, when they are plunged in cold water and washed well, when the skins may be rubbed off. It Is well to use rubbe, gloves in peeling figs which have been dipped in a lye solution.
 Dried figs probably appeal to more folks than do canned figs For dry Ing purposes ripe fruit free from de ray or insect blemishes and uniform In size should be selected Uniform lty in size means uniformity in dry Ing. A framework of one by twos ol A@s>-> In making the trays and the bottoms Are made of lath placed with from one eight to one-half an inch Q spacing between each two laths Closer spacings are desired wher' aerries and small fruits are dried pktag the same crate. Drying crate 7 may also be made with one by tw, frames and hardware cloth bottom The air circulation is better, but nor pr less difficulty comes from stain Ing the fruit and the rusting of tn galvanized hardware cloth. This ca be overcome by. enameling or paint Ing.
 After the figs are placed in singl layer on the trays they are covere' lightly with cheesecloth to keep ou the dust and insects. They are put il the sun with a free circulation of ali above and below. preferably tilte' slightly to the south. There is n fixed time necessary for drying. Tn pafy indication of the completion Q
 Eprocess is the condition of tn frlIit When it is sufficiently drie' It will be leathery and tough and if
 sample is pulled apart no drops c moisture will be visible. After re mova1 from the trays the dried fig should be conditioned for three ( four days by placing in small boxt and pouring back and forth twice day. Then are then stored in dar
 containers. bug tight and dust proc
 Paraffines boxes. glass. etc. may !
 used for containers Dried figs are
 substitute for fresh figs for practica
 ly all uses.