Until lately, man had done little more in preserving his food in a fresh condition, than the squirrels which gather and store their nuts and seeds in a warm, dry place. To be sure, he knew how to dry and smoke, and the uses of salt and sugar. He had even tried to preserve his meats and fruits in a fresh state; but his rude methods hardly foreshadowed the splendid results which have recently been achieved in the line of canned goods.
M. Appert, of France, first patented (in 1810) a process for preserving animal and vegetable substances in close vessels of glass—after subjecting them to the action of heat—and an English firm soon after introduced provisions preserved in tin. But it was reserved for Americans to lead the world, not only in the magnitude of their canning industries, but also in the art of preserving meats, vegetables, and fruits, by processes so delicate and effective, as to retain their original shape and texture, as well as their freshness and flavor. And, moreover, while they have practically prolonged the “Seasons” for perishable food products throughout the entire year, and furnish them for the consumer at very reasonable rates, the producer has often thanked them for giving stability to prices in seasons of great “Gluts” and abundance.
Among canned goods, in glass or tin packages of various sizes, qualities and prices, are the following:
Corned beef, boiled; ROAST BEEF, BEEF A LA MODE, BOILED HAM, BOILED TONGUE, ROAST MUTTON, ROAST VEAL, ROAST CHICKEN, ROAST TURKEY, BRAWN, POTTED MEATS of all kinds; GAME PATES of WILD DUCK, GROUSE, PARTRIDGE, PLOVER, WOODCOCK; BONED TURKEY AND CHICKEN, with jelly; CURRIED CHICKEN, DEVILLED CHICKEN, TURKEY, HAM, PIG’S FEET, LAMB’S TONGUES, etc.
Beef, CHICKEN, GREEN TURTLE, OXTAIL, JULIENNE, MOCK TURTLE, CONSOMME, MACCARONI, VERMICELLI, PEA, MUTTON BROTH, etc.
Clams, CLAM CHOWDER, ANCHOVIES, CRABS FRESH, CRABS DEVILLED, CODFISH BALLS, MACKEREL FRESH, LOBSTER, OYSTERS, PRAWNS, SHRIMP, SALMON, SARDINES, TROUT, TURTLE, KIPPERED HERRING, BLOATERS, etc.
Asparagus, Baked, Lima, and String BEANS, GREEN CORN, MUSHROOMS, OKRA, ONIONS, PEAS, PUMPKIN, SQUASH, SUCCOTASH, SPINACH, RHUBARB, etc.
Apples, APRICOTS, BLACKBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, CHERRIES, GRAPES, GOOSEBERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, PINEAPPLES, QUINCES, RASPBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, etc.
Besides the above, there are “Heaps” of canned delicacies, such, for instance, as TRUFFLES, TRUFFLE PATES, TRUFFLE DU PERIGORD, in tins and glass, PLUM PUDDINGS, PLUM PUDDING SAUCES, etc.
Some of the French vegetables in glass and tin are beautifully green in appearance, but it is evident that they are artificially colored. A more wholesome device is to put the articles up in the intensely green bottles sometimes seen.
The Tin Cans.—Tin is mainly used for canned goods, and is the least objectionable of all the metals, and better than anything probably, except glass. It does not oxidize easily, and if it does, its soluble salts are less injurious than those of any other available metal.
Jellies are made from nearly all the fruits by mixing their juices with sugar, and often with gelatine or isinglass, (four parts of which will convert 100 parts of water into a tremulous jelly) and boiling them down. Jellies are wholesome, cooling, and grateful, provided they are free from adulterations and noxious colorings, and are much used upon the tea table and in the sick room. Among the varieties of jelly in the market are APPLE, CRAB APPLE, BLACKBERRY, CURRANT, GRAPE, LEMON, GUAVA, ORANGE, QUINCE, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, etc. They come in tumblers and jars, and in bulk. There are also CALVES’ FOOT, WINE and SPIRIT jellies.
Preserves.—All the above fruits are preserved in sugar, and put up in quart and pint jars. Cherries, PEACHES, PEARS, etc., are also preserved in BRANDY, and sold in glass jars. There is also a great variety of JAMS and MARMALADES, both foreign and domestic; GINGER ROOT, boiled in syrup, etc. Fruit butter is made from various fruits, as, Apple, Cranberry, Peach, Pear, or Raspberry, etc., by stewing them in sugar or molasses. It is usually sold from pails by the pound, and is much used in some sections.
The delicate flavors of fruit and the fragrant principles of spice and other substances, as vanilla, etc., are extracted by pressure or distillation, and dissolved in spirits of wine for culinary purposes. It is found also, that certain ethers and oils may be so combined (as, for instance, potato oil) as to yield the taste and smell of many fruits, such as pears, apples, grapes, pineapples, etc. Flavoring extracts and essences are variously put up in vials and bottles; among them are LEMON, VANILLA, ROSE, ALMOND, PEACH, CELERY, GINGER, CLOVES, NUTMEG, STRAWBERRY, RASPBERRY, PINEAPPLE, NECTARINE, etc.
Isinglass and gelatine are used to make jellies, and thicken soups and gravies. Isinglass is made from the intestines of fish. Its advantages over gelatine are lighter color, less flavor, and greater thickening power. In cold water it softens, swells, becomes white and opaque. In hot water it smells a little fishy. Gelatine is made from the bones of animals; it also swells in cold water, but becomes glassy and transparent, while in hot water it has somewhat the smell of glue. It is often sold for isinglass. The test of both is in the fineness and clearness of their jelly. Calves’ foot jelly is delicate, but less firm. Gelatine is sold in sheets and shreds.
Herbs for seasoning, as, SAGE, SUMMER SAVORY, SWEET MARJORAM, THYME, etc., are sold in the leaf, and also powdered, in tins and paper packets.
Spices are generally understood to be more aromatic and fragrant and less pungent than what are called condiments. Spices are usually added to sweetened food, while condiments, as pepper and mustard, are better suited to meats and food containing salt.
It is impossible to supply genuine articles if the public are not willing to pay for them, and it may be accepted as a general rule, that the lower the price of ground spices and condiments, the more they are adulterated. The materials chiefly used for this purpose are starch, cracker dust and similar harmless substances, and the mixture usually contains as much of the pure material as can reasonably be afforded at the price it sells for. The purchaser may elect whether he will have such articles, or those which are genuine at a higher cost. The grocer does not create wants and demands; he merely supplies them.
Pepper.—There are two kinds, black and white. Both are from the seeds of the piper nigrum, a plant which grows in the East and West Indies. Black pepper is the seed picked before it is fully ripe, dried and ground. White pepper is made from the ripened seed deprived of its black outer shell or pericarp. Pepper is an agreeable addition to many kinds of food, and is said to promote the secretion of the gastric juice; it is more used than any other spice.
Cayenne pepper is the powdered pod of one or more species of capsicum. The sharp taste is due to a camphor like substance found more in the pods than in the seeds.
Mustard.—This is the flour of the black or white mustard seed. The black seed contains most volatile oil, is more pungent, and differs from the white in chemical composition. The two are blended in various proportions. Wheat flour is often added, with a little turmeric to bring up the color. Mustard seed contains over 30 per cent. of a fixed oil, and a portion of this is often extracted. This practice is considered beneficial rather than fraudulent.
Ginger.—This is the root-stalk of a plant which grows in Jamaica and other warm countries. The best comes with the skin scraped off. This is ground. The odor of ginger is due to an essential oil; its pungency to a peculiar resin. It is sometimes adulterated with starch, sago, rice, and wheat flour, mustard hulls, cayenne pepper, etc. But, as with all the other spices, there are pure brands.
Cloves are the dried flower buds of the clove tree. They come from the East Indies, Africa, and South America, ranking in value in the order named. The best contain as much as 16 per cent. of a volatile oil to which their flavor is due. Ground cloves have sometimes a portion of this oil pressed out, with pimento or allspice added, which latter is much less costly. Cloves are best when large, plump, bright in tint, and full of oil, which exudes on pressure with the finger nail.
Allspice or pimento is the little, round berry of an evergreen tree, common in the West Indies. It contains about 4 per cent. of an aromatic oil. Owing to its cheapness, it is less adulterated than other spices.
Cinnamon is the true bark of a small evergreen tree of Ceylon. The best is very thin, the outer and inner coats of the bark having been removed.
Cassia is the bark of another species of cinnamon tree; it is thicker, corky, and not so red. It is cheap and not much adulterated. It is often sold for cinnamon, but is less aromatic and valuable. Cassia buds are the unripe buds of the same tree.
Nutmegs and Mace.—Nutmegs are the seeds of the Myristica Fragrans, a tree which grows in the East Indies. Good nutmegs feel heavy in the hand, and are not worm eaten. They contain about 8 per cent. of volatile oil, and 25 per cent. of fixed oil, which exudes under indentation or pressure with the finger nail. Most people buy whole nutmegs and the ground article has only a limited sale. Mace is the arillus or coating of the nutmeg, and is also sold whole or unground.
Curry Powder.—This compound of spices, etc., is much used in India and other hot countries, as an appetizer and stimulant to digestion. There are several excellent brands of curry powder in market, both English and American, made approximately after some one of the following five receipts:
| Proportions. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turmeric | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Black pepper | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1/2 |
| Cayenne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3/4 | 6 |
| Ginger | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 |
| Fenugreek | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1/2 |
| Cummin seed | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Coriander seed | 0 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| Cardamom seed | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 |
| Pimento | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/4 |
| Cinnamon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/4 | 1/4 |
| Cloves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/4 | 1 |
| Nutmeg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 |
Common Salt varies in purity and sometimes contains salts of lime, magnesia, and potash. But as those are more soluble in water than common salt, it is easy to remove them in the process of manufacture. Our culinary salt comes from several sources; rock salt deposits or mines, sea water, and salt springs.
There are numerous brands of salt which are freed from all impurity, ground to various degrees of fineness, and put up in barrels, sacks, bags and packets of all sizes; also in stone jars.
Celery salt is good common salt mingled with the finely ground seeds of celery.
Besides the finer qualities for table use, there are varieties specially adapted for salting and pickling meats, fish, etc.; lump rock salt for cattle, hay salt, etc. The bitter salts of lime, magnesia, etc., attract moisture more than common salt, hence dryness is a sign of purity.
The sour principle is acetic acid, of which good vinegar contains about four per cent. Vinegar may be obtained by fermentation from the juice of any starchy or sweet fruit or vegetable, from beer, or even from sweetened water, to which “mother” or other vinegar is added. Cider vinegar is most used, as it retains the fruity flavor of the apple, but good vinegar is also made from wine, malt, oranges, raspberries, etc. There are many varieties in market, both domestic and foreign. Stringent laws regulate the purity and strength of vinegar for domestic uses, in New York and some other states.
These are fruits and vegetables preserved in vinegar, after first steeping them in brine. Certain articles require to be pickled in scalding hot vinegar, others with cold; salt, pepper and spices are added to suit the taste. Pickles were formerly extensively colored green with copper, but the ghastly practice has gone out of date. Intelligent people will prefer those which have the more natural and wholesome yellowish, olive green tint. There are all sorts of pickles in market, put up in glass or wood packages of various sizes, as follows:
Cucumbers and GHERKINS, CHOW CHOW, CAULIFLOWER, ONIONS, MANGOES, PICALILLI, WALNUTS, PEPPERS, HORSERADISH, MIXED PICKLES, and SWEET PICKLES. Among the best of imported pickles are the reliable Cross and Blackwell goods; some domestic brands are perhaps equally good. Olives are in brine, usually in wide-mouthed glass jars. They come from Italy, Spain, and France. The “Queen,” “Crescent,” etc., are favorite brands. There are also French CAPERS, so important as an accompaniment for boiled mutton, etc.
Salad oil.—The best is the oil of the OLIVE, which, when pure, is of pale, greenish yellow tint, with an agreeable odor and taste. Refined Cottonseed oil has naturally a more reddish tint. It is extensively sold as olive oil or mixed with it, although many grocers keep the genuine olive oil. Salad dressings are also in market, some of which are very fine and delicate.
These articles give zest to food and stimulate digestion. Their composition is very varied and embraces many fruits and vegetables, as the tomato, walnut, garlic, shallot; many herbs, as tarragon, chervill, mint, thyme, marjoram; many condiments, as cayenne, black pepper, mustard, and all the spices; many fish, as lobsters, oysters, clams, shrimp, anchovies; the juices of meat, besides salt, sugar, molasses, etc.
Pepper sauce is made from the little Jamaica peppers, the Mexican, Chili pepper, or some other variety of red or green pepper. There are numerous brands, and nearly all are good. The TABASCO PEPPER SAUCE is excellent. Tomato catsup or ketchup is a very wholesome and agreeable addition to the diet. Among the best and most popular varieties is the “SHREWSBURY” TOMATO KETCHUP. Mushroom and Walnut Catsups are less used, but still have many friends.
Among the dainty and well known SAUCES, are the WORCESTERSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, SULTANA, PICCADILLY, CHUTNEE, SOHO, HARVEY, NORTH OF ENGLAND, etc. There are also various American sauces, some of which are imitations of the above or very similar in composition and flavor. Some of the English sauces are put up in elegant and artistic vases.
The increasing excellence, abundance and cheapness of fruits and berries is full of promise for the health and vigor of the American people. They are wholesome, cooling and nutritious.
Apples.—This noble fruit is in market the year round; new Southern apples are first marketed in April. Apricots are a fine small fruit which ripens in July. Cherries reach us from the South in May. Nectarines come in August. Peaches are at the height of their season in August and September. Early in the latter month they should be secured for preserving. Pears.—The choicest are the Dutchess, Bartlett and Virgalieu. California pears are excellent and widely sold through the country. Plums ripen in August, and are in season until October. Quince is a highly flavored fruit, used only for preserves. Grapes.—Besides our own abundant and delicious Muscat, Concord, Isabella, Catawba, and other varieties, three-quarters of a million barrels of the hardy and cooling white Almeria grapes are annually imported at New York. They were formerly a costly luxury, but are now abundant and cheap, and will keep through the winter.
Strawberries.—The season opens with shipments from Florida early in March, and closes six months later with the product of the far North. Raspberries come in June and continue until August. Blackberries ripen early in July, and are very healthful. Currants ripen in July and continue until September; they are white, red and black, and are wholesome and cooling. Gooseberries may be had red, yellow, green and white. They are much used unripe, for cooking purposes. Cranberries begin to reach market from Cape Cod, New Jersey, etc., about September first. The largest and darkest are the best. They are healthful and an almost indispensable adjunct to roast turkey, etc.; are also used for sauces, tarts, and pies.
The increased knowledge in regard to the excellence and healthfulness of these fruits has, within a few years, greatly enlarged the demand for them, and they are now sold at moderate prices in almost every city and town in the land.
Oranges.—Those from Florida and California are richer and of finer flavor, while the Mediterranean variety are thin skinned, juicy, hardy, and will keep longer. That region sends us annually a million boxes of oranges, and the annual product of Florida and California is two million boxes. Havana oranges are not as good as they used to be, but twenty thousand barrels come to New York yearly from Cuba.
Lemons.—A million and a half boxes of lemons are consumed yearly in this country, most of which come from Sicily, but lemon culture is increasing in Florida. Lemons vary much more in price than oranges, as a heated term or unusual sickness increases the consumption.
Bananas and other fruits.—There are two varieties, the red from Cuba, and the yellow from Jamaica and the Spanish Main. The latter are the better. Bananas are in market all the year, but the season is from March to August. Pineapples are exquisitely flavored fruit, much used sliced for the tea table. The season is from May to August. Cocoanuts are used grated, for making pies and puddings; they are delicious, but rather indigestible. Dessicated cocoanut is the meat of cocoanuts ground and dried, and mixed with powdered sugar; sometimes, also, rice, flour, or corn starch is added. It comes in packets, cans, etc.
In the Spring and Summer months the appetite craves fresh vegetables; and their free use, especially in those seasons, will be found excellent for the general health of the family. Spinach, for instance, is said to be beneficial in kidney complaints; Dandelion greens are good for biliousness; Tomatoes act upon the liver; Celery upon the nerves; Onion soup restores a debilitated stomach, etc., etc. In fact, it would be easy thus to go through the whole vegetable list and find each one possessing some special mission of healthfulness.
The Bermudas send annually about $400,000 worth of potatoes, onions, beets and tomatoes to New York, during the months of March, April and May. Florida garden produce finds its way North very early in the Spring, and later, in regular order, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia, wheel into line with their numerous productions, until, finally, our home gardeners have their season. During all this time our vegetables on sale are improving in freshness as they are drawn from sources nearer home, and prices are falling.
Potatoes.—The heavier ones are more mealy and nutritious than those which are waxy and soft. There are many favorite varieties. Some are early but less mealy, others prolific but lacking in flavor, etc.—hence prices vary. Sweet Potatoes.—There are two varieties—the red and yellow—with but little difference in price. Cabbage.—A standard vegetable the year round; the heaviest are the best. Cauliflower, best from April to December; the large, creamy white, solid heads are preferred; dark or soft spots indicate staleness. Onions are very nutritious; their powerful odor is due to a strong smelling, volatile, sulphurized oil. There are the white or silver skinned, yellow and red. Spanish Onions are milder, and much eaten raw. Garlic, a pungent species of the onion tribe, and very healthful; used for flavoring. Leeks and Chives are allies of the onion. Leeks have large leaves, a thick stalk and small root; Chives, used as salads, have small, spine-like leaves. Carrots, Turnips, Beets and Parsnips are standard vegetables to be had throughout the year; frost improves the latter.
Asparagus.—A choice and health giving vegetable. Season begins in March, and it grows fibrous in July. Celery is improved by frost, and is in its prime and cheapest during the winter months, after which it becomes tougher and stringy. Cucumbers.—A pleasant, cooling vegetable, but difficult of digestion, and containing little nourishment. Tomatoes are excellent food for people with weak stomachs or liver difficulties; is a vegetable that could ill be spared. Millions of bushels are canned every year, and if properly put up are nearly as good as the fresh article. Peas.—The smaller varieties are best, should be purchased in the pods, which should be cool, crisp and green. A black spot on the pea indicates that it is too old to be at its best. Beans, shelled and string.—The former embrace the Lima sorts. The Neapolitan or snap is considered best of the String beans. Green Corn comes from the South in May, and the home supply lasts till October. Ears should be well filled and milky, and not too old. Green sweet corn is the best.
Rhubarb.—Much used for sauce and pies. The leaves are said to contain oxalic acid, and must not be eaten. Radish, said to be difficult of digestion itself, but helps to digest other food. There are two varieties, the small bulbous, or round, and the long. Artichoke, a tuber like the potato; is pickled, used as a salad and as a vegetable. Squash.—The summer squash is in market from April to September. Winter squash is more substantial but less delicate. Oyster Plant has a grassy top, and a long, tapering, white root like a carrot; its flavor suggests that of oysters. Egg Plant, called Guinea Squash at the South, should be firm, hard, and rather under ripe, it also tastes somewhat like an oyster; the large, purple, oval shaped, is the better variety. Okra or Gumbo.—The green seed pods are much esteemed for soups and stews, especially in the South, and are growing in favor at the North. The long green variety is considered best. Lettuce, Spinach, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Beet-tops, Dandelion Leaves, ETC., are used as salads and for greens.
Melons.—Musk-melon, the stronger the musk odor, the finer it is; but if it appears quite ripe all over, it is over ripe and decomposing. If it has no odor, it is only fit for cattle. Water-melon, if pressed near its center, should yield a little, and the indentation disappear when the finger is removed. If no indent can be made, the melon is too green, if the depression remains, the melon is over ripe.
Beans, Peas, and Lentils.—These leguminous seeds are very nutritious and palatable, and rank high among strength-giving foods. They contain vegetable casein in place of gluten, and hence are not suitable for making bread; all these articles are more digestible if eaten with fat, and the American staple dish of Pork and Beans is really the marriage of two articles which agree very well with each other. Dried Peas, split, or ground into meal, are much used for soups. Lentils, which are round seeds like flattened peas, are excellent used as a vegetable, but are comparatively little known. The most popular varieties of the white beans are the Marrow, Kidney and Pea beans. There are also Frijoles or black beans, Lima beans, etc.
The chief consideration with articles in this line is, that they should be as fresh as possible, and free from vermin and traces of vermin. Worms in dried fruits are never in sight, even though they may swarm below the surface. Dried Apples should be light colored, plump and acid. Evaporated fruit (by the Alden process, etc.) is preferred to sun-dried. It is often bleached in the fumes of sulphurous acid, which has a tendency to keep the fruit free from worms, and does not injure the flavor. Dried Peaches should be pealed, clear and dark. Dried Plums should be pitted, clear and bright. Dried Berries—the chief danger is from worms.
Raisins are dried grapes. The finest are the Dehesa “Layers;” next are the Cluster, or Bunch raisins, and the “Loose,” which are without stems. They are better in proportion to the number of crowns in the brand, as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Crowns. The small seedless raisins are called “Sultana,” and come from Smyrna. Valencias are the common cooking raisins. California Raisins (Muscatel) are excellent, very fast growing in popular favor, and are the coming summer raisin. The best raisins are of the “Last crop.” Age tends to crystallize the grape sugar in raisins, and they are also liable to the attacks of vermin.
Dried Currants are the small dried grapes of the Ionian Islands. The “Vostizza” come in cases, and are considered better in proportion as they are larger in size. There are a number of varieties of currants. They should be bright and clean.
Figs are said to be easier of digestion than any other dried sweet fruit, and are slightly laxative. “Eleme,” signifies superior, or hand picked. Generally the last crop “Layers” (as distinguished from those in kegs) are the best; they should be fresh, moist, thin skinned, semi-transparent, and free from vermin. There are many varieties, and they are put up in all sorts of packages.
Prunes are dried plums, or “French plums,” as they are sometimes called. They are extensively raised in the valley of the Loire, in France; also in Germany, and about Bosnia, in Turkey. California prunes are also excellent, and very popular wherever they are known. The largest and freshest prunes are the best. They come in bottles, tins, bags, boxes and casks.
Dates.—This “Bread of the Desert” is the sun-dried fruit of the date palm, and is both nourishing and palatable. Dates were formerly packed in frails, but now come usually in boxes. Among the best varieties of Persian and Egyptian dates are the “Hallowee” and the “Sair;” some are large, yellow, moist, and little wrinkled, others are smaller, dark in color, with small pits; some are very sweet and insipid, and others almost aromatic in flavor.
Tamarinds are the pods of a tree, growing in the East and West Indies, gathered when ripe, and preserved in sugar or molasses. They are acid, pleasant, healthful, and cooling. They come in bottles, stone jars and kegs.
Almonds are of two kinds, the sweet and bitter; the latter are only used for making extracts. Among the edible varieties are the Tarragona, Valencia, “Jordan,” a corruption of Jardin (garden), etc. There are hard, soft, and “paper shell” almonds, and almond meats freed from their shells. Filberts are cultivated hazel nuts and come mainly from Sicily. Pecans come from Texas. Walnuts from Italy, France, and Chili. Brazil Nuts grow along the Amazon in clusters on high trees. They are oily and rich. Peanuts come from Virginia, and Chestnuts from Italy and our own Northern States.
The active principle of tobacco is the alkaloid nicotine, but it cannot be said that the effects of tobacco are solely due to this substance, for some varieties, as the Syrian, etc., contains little or no nicotine, yet are considered strong. The quantity of nicotine varies much in tobacco, or from one-half of one per cent. to eight per cent. As a rule, the finer the quality and flavor, the less nicotine the tobacco contains.
There are many varieties of tobacco, as those of Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, etc., which are used mainly for chewing, while the Cuban, Turkish, Connecticut, Sumatra, etc., are considered better for cigars. All these tobaccos may vary again in species, as, for instance, there are the Orinoco, Cienfuegos, White Stem, One Sucker, Isabella, White Barley, Fiji Orinoco, Cubani, and many others. Havana or Cuban tobacco has long held the palm over all the world for making the most exquisitely flavored cigars. The aromatic principles on which its value depends can only be developed under a warm, moist climate.
Is used both in the “PLUG” form and as “FINE CUT,” and in some localities preference is given to the one, while little of the other is sold. The New England and some of the Western States take their chewing tobacco largely in plugs, while the Middle States take more kindly to the fine cut. Detroit has a national reputation for the manufacture of fine cut tobaccos, which are extensively sold in tin foil and paper packages, and in bulk, in pails, etc. There are many hundreds of brands of chewing tobacco, both plug and fine cut. Some are the natural leaf, while others are sweetened; so that the most diversified tastes may be satisfied.
North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky are foremost among the States in the manufacture of the smoking tobaccos, which are almost infinite in variety and sold in all sorts of packages. Among them are the “Long” and “Short cut,” “Navy Clippings,” “Granulated,” “Nigger Head,” “Sweet Spun Roll,” “Golden Cavendish,” “Durham,” “Fruits and Flowers,” “Seal of North Carolina,” “Seal of Virginia,” and many others, besides imported varieties, as Persian, Latakia, Havana, etc. In addition to smoking tobaccos, many grocers keep a full assortment of PIPES, from the common clay up, through all kinds of briar and applewood pipes to the genuine meerschaum goods of every style and quality.
The value of a cigar depends not only on the quality of the leaf, but largely also on the mode of manufacture. If rolled too hard or too loosely, it will burn badly.
The best burning leaves must be used for wraps; if not, the air has no access to the inside burning parts, and the empyreumatical substances are volatilized without being decomposed. Such cigars make much smoke and smell disagreeably. If the cigar burns well, more of the nicotine is consumed and decomposed. Cigars, therefore, which contain little nicotine and burn poorly, are more narcotic in their effects than well burning cigars which contain a greater quantity of nicotine. Hence, the leaves of the Connecticut or “Seed leaf” tobacco, which burn freely and well, are much used for wrappers for cigars filled with Havana tobacco. Within recent years, however, the handsome leaved Sumatra tobacco is quite largely used for wrappers upon medium priced cigars, as it burns better than Cuban tobacco.
The real excellence of a very high-priced cigar is not in proportion to its cost, which depends largely on its size and the fancy of the buyer. For instance, a 50-cent cigar will burn no better nor be much, if any more fragrant than a 25-cent cigar. It may be larger, and the large Havana leaves, free from veins and suitable for use as wrappers for fine, large cigars are so scarce and high, as to enhance their cost out of all proportion to that of an equally well flavored, though smaller cigar. In fact, 10 or 15 cents should procure as good a medium sized cigar as average people care to smoke. The dude’s dollar cigar is not much, if any better, except as fancy makes it so.
Many of the 5-cent cigars sold so extensively, contain a large proportion of Havana tobacco, and make a fairly fragrant and pleasant smoke. It is said that there are upwards of 100,000 open and proprietary brands of cigars on the market.
Cigarettes.—The sale of these little paper tubes filled with tobacco, has grown enormously within a few years and is still increasing. It is whispered that the ladies even, sometimes seek to find in them a whiff of the solace and comfort their brothers and husbands find in the pipe or cigar. There are many favorite brands on the market.
Snuff.—This article which is made from the stems and refuse of the tobacco, or largely so, is comparatively little used in this country; but in some sections, and especially in the South it is sold to a considerable extent. It comes in bulk and in jars, bottles, bladders, and packets. Among the varieties are “Carolina Sweet” and plain Scotch Snuff, Maccaboy and coarse French Rappee, scented or plain.
Soap is made by boiling down oils or fats in a water solution of caustic soda or potash. Through the acid properties of the fats, the oleine, stearine, margarine, etc., which they contain, combine with the alkali to produce the saponified compound.
Hard soap is made with soda; soft soap with potash. The more oleine in the fat, the softer the soap; the more stearine the harder. Rosin is also largely used, sometimes to the extent of one-third the weight of the soap. It increases its hardness, makes it dissolve easier in water and forms a more copious lather.
Soap may be two-thirds water and still remain solid. Even dry, hard soap contains 20 or 25 per cent. of moisture. An excess of water causes soap to waste or dissolve too freely in use; hence, as soap is perpetually losing water by evaporation, the most economical to buy is that with some age and moderately dry, yet not so much dried that it will not dissolve readily and make a good lather or suds.
Soap must not be strong enough to injure fabrics or discharge colors, yet sufficiently powerful to render grease and dirt soluble, so that it may be washed away in water. Rosin soap hardens the fibers of wool, and alkalies, if used to excess, shrink woolen fabrics. Hard water, or that containing lime or magnesia, more or less decomposes soap, and it floats on the surface as a greasy scum. But if an oily film rises to the top of soft water, it shows that the fat in the soap is not all saponified. Soft water is better than hard for fabrics.
Common Yellow Bar Soap contains soda with fat and rosin. White Soap consists of tallow and soda. Castile Soap is made of olive oil and soda. Common Fancy Soaps are mainly ordinary soap colored and scented. Real Brown Windsor Soap is made of goat tallow, olive oil and soda. Transparent Soaps are those which have been dissolved in alcohol. Fine Toilet Soaps are made with as little alkali as possible, of almond, palm or olive oil, suet, lard, etc., colored and perfumed.
Shaving Soaps and Creams are made either with soda or potash, of fine tallow or cocoanut oil, which has the property of making a strong lather. Mottled Soaps owe their variegations of color to the use of iron oxides. It is said that these cannot be effectively applied if the soap contains an excess of water, and that more skill is required to make good blue mottled soap than any other. The more any soap is worked over, or remelted, cooled, etc., the better it becomes.
There is a great variety of soaps upon the market, and language has been ransacked to find appropriate names for them. Among them are “Family,” “Laundry,” “Ivory,” “Best Soap,” “Electric,” “Ozone,” “Borax,” “Sand Soap,” “Silver Soap,” “Sapolio,” etc., and many scouring and detergent articles, as “Pearline,” “Soapine,” “Scourene,” “Washing Compound,” “Washing Crystal,” etc.
In Toilet Soaps there is an equally wide range of choice, embracing every color and variegation of color, and every perfume that is agreeable to the smell. Soaps are also charged with disinfecting substances, as carbolic acid, etc., and variously medicated with sulphur, camphor, glycerine, and other materials for softening and healing the skin.