In the carly days of spring (2nd moon) the cellars are dismantled and the firms engaged in the pickling industry send representatives to purchase their stocks of the sueculent vegetable.
On arrival at the factory, ube cabbages are first. chopped' into small portions which are then dried in the sun for two or three days on mats.
When partially dried these _p. tions are gathered up and pi: in large earthenware kongs.
Salting is the next step, the proportion being 1.4 chin of salt to 100 cabbage.
After the receptacles have been hermetically sealed, and left for five or six days, the pickle is considered ready for the next stage, which according to the ingredients used wil! result in one or other variety of the finished article, the hun (4) garlic-flavoured or the sw ($8) plain.
It is the former of these that for obvious reasons is the most deadly to Europeans, The Deadly Mixture.
For its preparation, garlic is chopped up in the proportion of 1.2 to 100 chin and well mixed with the already salted cabbage, after which the kongs are resealed for a period of three months, when the pickle is considered ripe for the market. Poison gas is not in it when the lid is removed.
A concoction of red pepper, cloves, artemisia, cinnamon, and two kinds of root, both difficult 10 identify, are necessary to evolve the plain variety. The above conglumoration is put into a bag and well boiled, the resultant soup, after straining. being well mixed with the salted cabbage and then sealed up for the period above-mentioned.
When ready for sale, the condi ment is made up into small packages, or jars of 1} Ib. and despatched in large consignments to dealers in Tientsin for export to Shanghai, Hongkong and Canton.
Locally the wicker or earthenware jars of pickle sell for about 13 copper cent: being a trifle garlic brand. ach, the plain variety cheaper than the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.