AVe do not pretend to have found an universal panacea ?
the causes of the problem are no doubt numerous and the
remedies must be numerous likewise. But it is obvious
that the development of village industries assists in solving
the problem of agricultural depression, and of overcrowding
in towns.
'fhe experiment was tried and proved abundantly
successful by Messrs. S. Chivers & Sons, Fruit Growers and
Jam Manufacturers, of Histon, Cambridge. The cardinal
and inexorable rule of this firm is, they say themselves, to
fully preserve the more perishable fruit within a few hours
of picking. Thus all the freshness, flavour, and purity, are
preserved. The fruit comes straight from the fields to the
factory ; there is no jolting railway journey, no long hours
of standing in baskets in the heat of summer, no chance of
THE EXIIIJUTION COOKKKV BOOK.
Il8
\ ■
fermentation. J^ut straiglit from Messrs. Cliivers’ own fields,
t)f those of neighbours on the spot on whom they can rely,
comes the absolutely fresh fruit to the factory, and is boiled
up into Jam in silver-lined, steam-jacketed pans. The
result is an absolutely pure and thoroughly high-class article,
which has met with the most brilliant success.
Other results have been equally satisfactory. Half a
century ago there was scarcely fifty acres of fruit in the
neighbourhood, to-day there are thousands. Messrs. Chivers
own several thousand acres themselves, a large portion of
which is planted with fruit, while they purchase the produce
of neighbouring fruit-growers ; and although we read that in
certain agricultural districts the value of land has woefully
declined, yet in the neighbourhood of Histon it has risen
fully ten pounds per acre. This remarkable fact speaks for
itself.
The buildings of the factory cover more than three acres of
ground. The store rooms seem endless. You can stroll
through streets of Jam-pots. • The boiling rooms are large,
light, and airy, and in the season may be seen half a
hundred pans sputtering with boiling fruit.
Further, the firm have added the preservation of whole
(Greengages and Plums in syrup to their Jam manufacture,
while to assist in keeping their large staff busy when the
fruit season is finished, they make Patent Custard Powders,
manufacture Marmalade, and among other things produce
Mince-meat in glass jars. This last has developed into a
very large trade, several tons per week being sent out in the
au,tumn months.
THE EXHilHTlON COOKEKY JiOOK. II9
The firm also do their own printing, make their own
packing cases, produce electric light for their own works,
silver their own boiling pans, work their own artesian wells,
and keep their own engineers’ shop for maintaining all th$
machinery in the pink of perfection. Surely a most remark-
able development of a huge self-contained village factory in
the space of about 25 years ! ^
And the fruit-growing is the root of the whole business.
Its success of course involves technical knowledge and love
of the land. It keeps people employed on the land, and
when as at Histon the products are manufactured on the
spot it develops a village industry of a very satisfactory
character. The firm often employ over a thousand persons
Page 47
Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
We do not pretend to have found an universal panacea? the causes of the problem are no doubt numerous and the remedies must be numerous likewise. But it is obvious that the development of village industries assists in solving the problem of agricultural depression, and of overcrowding in towns.
The experiment was tried and proved abundantly successful by Messrs. S. Chivers & Sons, Fruit Growers and Jam Manufacturers, of Histon, Cambridge. The cardinal and inexorable rule of this firm is, they say themselves, to fully preserve the more perishable fruit within a few hours of picking. Thus all the freshness, flavour, and purity, are preserved. The fruit comes straight from the fields to the factory ; there is no jolting railway journey, no long hours of standing in baskets in the heat of summer, no chance of
[illustration: THE EXHIBITION COOKERY BOOK.]
\ ■
fermentation. But straight from Messrs. Chivers' own fields, t)f those of neighbours on the spot on whom they can rely, comes the absolutely fresh fruit to the factory, and is boiled up into Jam in silver-lined, steam-jacketed pans. The result is an absolutely pure and thoroughly high-class article, which has met with the most brilliant success.
Other results have been equally satisfactory. Half a century ago there was scarcely fifty acres of fruit in the neighbourhood, to-day there are thousands. Messrs. Chivers own several thousand acres themselves, a large portion of which is planted with fruit, while they purchase the produce of neighbouring fruit-growers ; and although we read that in certain agricultural districts the value of land has woefully declined, yet in the neighbourhood of Histon it has risen fully ten pounds per acre. This remarkable fact speaks for itself.
The buildings of the factory cover more than three acres of ground. The store rooms seem endless. You can stroll through streets of Jam-pots. • The boiling rooms are large, light, and airy, and in the season may be seen half a hundred pans sputtering with boiling fruit.
Further, the firm have added the preservation of whole (Greengages and Plums in syrup to their Jam manufacture, while to assist in keeping their large staff busy when the fruit season is finished, they make Patent Custard Powders, manufacture Marmalade, and among other things produce Mince-meat in glass jars. This last has developed into a very large trade, several tons per week being sent out in the autumn months.
THE EXHilHTlON COOKEKY JiOOK. II9
The firm also do their own printing, make their own packing cases, produce electric light for their own works, silver their own boiling pans, work their own artesian wells, and keep their own engineers’ shop for maintaining all th$ machinery in the pink of perfection. Surely a most remarkable development of a huge self-contained village factory in the space of about 25 years ! ^
And the fruit-growing is the root of the whole business. Its success of course involves technical knowledge and love of the land. It keeps people employed on the land, and when as at Histon the products are manufactured on the spot it develops a village industry of a very satisfactory character. The firm often employ over a thousand persons