method, of course, can be used only for vegetables which contain enough water to make their own brine. String beans, if young and tender, may be preserved in this way. Remove tips and strings, and, if the pods are large, break them in two. Older beans, and doubtless other vegetables, could be preserved by this method if first shredded in the same manner as cabbage (p. 10). Use salt equal to 3 per cent of the weight of the vegetables (1 ounce salt to about 2 pounds vegetables).

SALTING WITHOUT FERMENTATION

Enough salt to prevent all bacterial action must be added. Wash and weigh the vegetables. Mix with them thoroughly one-fourth their weight of salt. If after the addition of pressure there is not enough brine to cover the product, add brine made by dissolving 1 pound of salt in 2 quarts of water. As soon as bubbling ceases, protect the surface by covering with paraffin. This method is especially well adapted to vegetables in which the sugar content is too low to produce a successful fermentation, such as chard, spinach, and dandelions. Corn can also be well preserved in this way. Husk it and remove the silk. Cook it in boiling water for 10 minutes, to set the milk. Then cut the corn from the cob with a sharp knife, weigh it, and pack it in layers, with one-fourth its weight of fine salt.

The methods of preservation outlined are not limited to vegetables. Solid fruits, like clingstone peaches and Kieffer pears, can be preserved in an 80° brine for as long as six months. After the salt has been soaked out, they may be worked up into desirable products by the use of spices, vinegar, sugar, etc. Soft fruits, like Elberta peaches and Bartlett pears, are best preserved in weak vinegar (2 per cent acetic acid).[3]

CAUSES OF FAILURE

SOFT OR SLIPPERY PICKLES

A soft or slippery condition, one of the most common forms of spoilage in making pickles, is the result of bacterial action. It always occurs when pickles are exposed above the brine and very often when the brine is too weak to prevent the growth of spoilage organisms. To prevent it keep the pickles well below the brine and the brine at the proper strength. To keep pickles for more than a very few weeks a brine should contain 10 per cent of salt. Once pickles have become soft or slippery as a result of bacterial action no treatment will restore them to a normal condition.

HOLLOW PICKLES

Hollow pickles may occur during the process of curing. This condition, however, does not mean a total loss, for hollow pickles may be utilized in making mixed pickles or certain forms of relish. While there are good reasons to believe that hollow pickles are the result of a faulty development or nutrition of the cucumber, there is also a strong probability that incorrect methods may contribute to their formation. One of these is allowing too long a time to intervene between gathering and brining. This period should not exceed 21 hours.

Hollow pickles frequently become floaters. Sound cucumbers properly cured do not float, but any condition which operates to lower their relative weight, such as gaseous distention, may cause them to rise to the surface.

EFFECT OF HARD WATER

So-called hard waters should not be used in making a brine. The presence of large quantities of calcium salts and possibly other salts found in many natural waters may prevent the proper acid formation, thus interfering with normal curing. The addition of a small quantity of vinegar serves to overcome alkalinity when hard water must be used. If present in any appreciable quantity, iron is objectionable, causing a blackening of the pickles under some conditions.

SHRIVELING

Shriveling of pickles often occurs when they have been placed at once in very strong salt or sugar solutions, or even in very strong vinegars. For this reason avoid such solutions so far as possible. When a strong solution is desirable the pickles should first be given a preliminary treatment in a weaker solution. This difficulty is most often encountered in making sweet pickles. The presence of sugar in high concentrations is certain to cause shriveling unless

EFFECT OF TOO MUCH SALT ON SAUERKRAUT

Perhaps the most common cause of failure in making sauerkraut is the use of too much salt. The proper quantity is 2| per cent by weight of the cabbage packed. When cabbage is to be fermented in very warm weather it may be well to use a little more salt. As a rule, however, this should not exceed 3 per cent. In applying the salt see that it is evenly distributed. The red streaks which are sometimes seen in sauerkraut are believed to be due to uneven distribution of salt.

EFFECT OF SCUM

Spoilage of the top layers of vegetables fermented in brine is sure to occur unless the scum which forms on the surface is frequently removed. This scum is made up of wild yeasts, molds, and bacteria, which, if allowed to remain, attack and break down the vegetables beneath. They may also weaken the acidity of the brine, in which way they may cause spoilage. The fact that the top layers have spoiled, does not necessarily mean, however, that all in the container are spoiled. The molds and other organisms which cause the spoilage do not quickly get down to the lower layers. The part found in good condition often may be saved by carefully removing the spoiled part from the top, adding a little fresh brine, and pouring hot paraffin over the surface.

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE

Temperature has an important bearing on the success of a lactic fermentation. The bacteria which are essential in the fermentation of vegetable foods are most active at a temperature of approximately 86° F., and as the temperature falls below this point their activity correspondingly diminishes. It is essential, therefore, that the foods be kept as close as possible to 86° F. at the start and during the active stages of a fermentation. This is especially important in the production of sauerkraut, which is often made in the late fall or winter. The fermentation may be greatly retarded or even stopped by too low a temperature.

After the active stages of a fermentation have passed, store the food in a cool place. Low temperatures are always an aid in the preservation of food products.

COLORING AND HARDENING AGENTS

To make what is thought to be a better looking product, it is the practice in some households to "green" pickles by heating them with vinegar in a copper vessel. Experiments have shown that in this treatment copper acetate is formed, and that the pickles take up very appreciable quantities of it. Copper acetate is poisonous.

By a ruling of the Secretary of Agriculture, made July 12, 1912, foods greened with copper salts, all of which are poisonous, will be regarded as adulterated.

Alum is often used for the purpose presumably of making pickles firm. The use of alum in connection with food products is of doubtful expediency, to say the least. If the right methods are followed in pickling, the salt and acids in the brine will give the desired firmness. The use of alum, or any other