Harvesting and Storing Garden Fruit

WHEN Mr. Raymond Bush sits down to write a book or an article, one may be sure that the result will be well worth the gardener's reading. There is always much wisdom, not untinged by humour, much of a life-time's accumulated experience and, usually, something at least to make one doubt or even disagree. His new book is no exception ; no fruit-grower could read it without enjoyment and without learning a great deal ; but some at least would feel a sense of disappointment. The book was obviously intended originally for the amateur fruit grower—its title alone leaves no doubt on that point ; but the author's enthusiasm for his subject carries him outside his field, and some of his suggestions would be beyond the means or the needs of all but the wealthiest of amateurs. The suggestion, for example, that quick-freezing of fruits and vegetables could be practised in the home is surely misleading, to say the least, when one considers that for satisfactory preservation an initial temperature of about –30° F. is necessary. On this subject, details of the method of processing seem of little value or interest to the public for whom the book is intended, while for anyone seriously considering factory-production the information would be hopelessly meagre. Harvesting and Storing Garden Fruit By Raymond Bush. Pp. 162 + 16 plates. (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1947.) 12 s . 6 d . net.