Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1870 — Preserving Fruits. [ARTICLE]

Preserving Fruits.

The fruit season may be prolonged by having early and late-ripening varieties of each kind of fruit, and a supply may be obtained sufficient to last throughout the year by preserving a sufficient quantity of the various fruits, according as they come to maturity. There are numerous kinds of glass jars for holding preserves, . all of which are superior to tin cans. In preserving fruit, it is necessary that it should be perfectly sound and recently gathered. Damaged berries, etc., should be rejected. The fixed air should be expelled by sufficient cooking, but much boiling softens the fruit too much, and unfits it for making choice preserves, gome kinds of fruit require more boiling than others. In filling the jars or bottles, air should be excluded by corking tight and covering every bit of the cork with cement. Corks are porous, and if not sealed air will enter and destroy the fruit. In jars where an India-rubber ring and metallic lid are used, the presstire on the rubber should be strong enough to effectually exclude air. A wrapper, if oiled, tied over the lid, will be useful.— Western Rural.