The Mountain Sentinel

From the Germantown Telegraph.

Preserving Fruit.

Mr. Editor: Fruit of almost every description may be preserved simply by packing it in kiln-dried bran. Sand is frequently used for the same purpose, but it is a ponderous article, and on several accounts far less eligible than bran. Dr. Underhill, of the New York Farmers Club, stated, some years since, that a friend of his obtained a quantity of ground cork in which grapes had been imported. He dried it thoroughly in a kiln, and packed some grapes in it, which kept sound and good till the following July.--He also remarked that he had succeeded in preserving grapes in kiln-dried wheat bran, and that in preserving all fruits, they should be kept as cool as possible, without incurring danger from frost. The temperature, therefore, ought never to be below 32 degrees, nor above 35 degrees.

Mr. Hall, at one of the meetings of this "club," remarked that the Spaniards export more grapes than all the rest of the world, and that they preserve them by packing in kiln dried oak saw-dust, and hermetically sealing the vessels in which they are deposited. Noah Webster, of lexicon and spelling book memory, was accustomed to preserve his apples in sand. Plaster of Paris is also had recourse to by many for the same purpose, but it is no less objectionable than the latter article, being heavy and difficult to handle. I have known apples and pears preserved in an excellent state till August in the following manner. As soon as the weather becomes cool, pick the fruit carefully from the boughs by hand, placing them one by one in a basket to prevent bruising. Spread them for a week or two in a cool place, and then envelope each apple closely in an envelope of paper.--Have a clean barrel, well lined with cotton batting or old newspapers, and pack in the enveloped fruit as carefully as it can be placed; head the barrel carefully, and set it away in a cool place. In this way fruit will generally keep sound and good.

H.