Orlean Plums
Green Gages
Damsons
Peaches
Nectarines
Bullaces.
Let the fruit be clean picked, and not too ripe, put it into
wide-mouthed, or what are called gooseberry bottles, let the bottles be
filled as full as they can be packed, and stick the corks lightly into
them; then place them upright in a saucepan of water, heated gradually
to about 100 or 170° F. that is, until the water feels very hot to the
finger, but does not scald. Let this degree of heat be kept up for half
an hour, then remove the bottles one by one, and fill them up to within
half an inch of the cork with boiling water; when cold let the cork be
fitted very close, and lay the bottles on their sides, that the cork may
be kept moist by the water. To prevent fermentation and mould, the
bottles must be turned once or twice a week for the first month or two,
and once or twice a month afterwards. When applied to use, some of the
liquor first poured off may serve to be put into the pie, or pudding,
instead of water, and the remainder being boiled up with a little
sugar, makes a rich and agreeable syrup.
The fruit ought not be cracked by the heat; some trials were made by
keeping the bottles in a heat of 190° for three quarters of an hour, but
the fruit was reduced nearly to a pulp. It is also advisable that the
fruit be not quite ripe, nor should it be bruised.
Some fruits may be preserved in a succulent state by being kept in
water, without boiling. This is practised in regard to the cranberry: it
also succeeds with the smaller kinds of apples. All pulpy fruits, such
as damsons, plums, &c., if gathered when not quite ripe, and not
wounded, may likewise be preserved, by putting them into dry bottles, so
as to exclude the air, by sealing over the cork, and then burying them
in a trench, with the cork downwards.