packing them in tight barrels, with a layer
of bran to each layer of apples. Envelope the barrel in a linen cloth,
to protect it from frost, and keep it in a cool place, but not so cold
as to freeze the apples. It is said that mortar, laid over the top of a
barrel of apples, is a good thing to preserve them, as it draws the air
from them, which is the principal cause of their decaying. Care should
be taken not to have it come in contact with the apples. To preserve
oranges and lemons several months, take those that are perfectly fresh,
and wrap each one in soft paper; put them in glass jars, or a very tight
box, with white sand, that has been previously dried in an oven a few
hours, after it has been baked in. The sand should be strewed thick over
each one of the oranges, as they are laid in the jar, and the whole
covered with a thick layer of it. Close the jar up tight, and keep it in
a cool dry place, but not so cool as to freeze the fruit. To preserve
grapes, gather them on a dry day, when they are not quite dead ripe, and
pick those that are not fair off from the stems. Lay the bunches of
grapes in a glass jar, and sprinkle around each of them a thick layer of
dry bran, so that they will not touch each other. Have a thick layer of
bran on the top, and cork and seal the jar very tight, so that the air
may be entirely excluded. Whenever they are to be eaten, restore them to
their freshness by cutting off a small piece from the end of the stalks,
and immerse the stalks of each bunch in sweet wine for a few minutes.
The stalks will imbibe the wine, and make the grapes fresh and juicy.
Various kinds of fruit, taken when green, such as grapes, gooseberries,
currants, and plums, can be kept through the winter, by being treated in
the following manner: Fill junk bottles with them, and set them in an
oven six or seven hours, after having baked in it. Let them remain till
they begin to shrink, then take the fruit from one bottle to fill the
others quite full. Cork and seal up the bottles. Whenever you wish to
make pies of them, put the quantity you wish to use into a tin pan, turn
on boiling water sufficient to cover them, and stew them in it till
soft, then sweeten, and make them into pies. Ripe blackberries and
whortleberries, to be kept long, should be dried perfectly in the sun,
then tied up in bags that are thick enough to exclude the air. When used
for pies, treat them in the same manner as the green fruit. Ripe
currants