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PUTTING LP FRUITS AND JtLLIES.
A Comprehensive System.
1st Premium.—The writer has bait most
.xi .'llcnt success in canning and preserving fruits of very many varieties, ami
gives the following as the cream of many
years'   experience. None    but    actual
facts are given, so that every line of this
article may be relied upon, and, if the instructions are closely followed and only
good materials used, under all ordinary
conditions success is assured.
The first considerations are cleanliness
and good materials in everything. Only
self-sealing glass jars should be used.
.lars, and rubbers sliould be thoroughly
washed with soap aud warm water, rinsed
aod put away, with tops removed, in an
airy place when nut in use, and similarly
• leaned again, a few at a time, wheu
needed for filling. Not a particle of
grease should remain on lid, rubber or top
of jar. Then before putting in the fruit
the bottom and sides of the jar should be
warmed until almost as warm as the hand
oan bear, so as to prevent the jar from
cracking. It is better to put in only a
spoonful of two of juice at first, as a
further preventive, waiting just a few
seconds until the jar is properly tempered.
By this mehod very &w jars are lost. If
necessary use two rubbers, but none that
are stiff.
Use only granite or porcelain lined kettles, and do not try to cook at one time
more than enough for one or two quart
jars in each kettle, as the weight makes
it stick and burn on the bottom before the
top is well cooked. Fresh, ripe, firm
fruit shoull be selected, and pits removed
from cherries and free-stone peaches. Pits
may be left in clings and plums without
detriment. Over-ripe fruit will not . retain its shape or keep so well. Green
fruits will be hard and will lack the rich
flavor. Use    white  A  or    granulated
sugar.
A few kinds of fruit, such as plums
and blackberries, often keep fresh and
good aa long as two years, without any
sugar, but most other fruits require a
good quantity ofl sugar at the start, and
it should always be boiled into the frtuit
No raw sugar, raw water, or cold Ijruit
can be added in the can. If fruit fades
nnd softens in the jar, it is usually
because not enough sugar was used.
Therefore, strawberries, currants* cherries, pears and pie plant should have
even more sugar than would be needed in
sweetening them to taste, in order to
make them keep well. For these prepare
a thick syimp, boiling hot, into which
put the cleaned and prepared fruit, a
small quantity at first, until this has
made enough juice to cook the entire
quantity. Dropping into the hot syrup
preserves the form of the pieces, and is
advisable, in canning soft fruit and in all
preserving.
For most fruits other than those named
only enough sugar will be required to fit
them for table use, about one to two
teacupfuls for eaeh gallon of prepared
fruit, but individual taste must regulate
this. Fruit   intended   for pies   should
not have full measure of sugar, as pies
taste better if part fresh sugar is added
when making up.
Tomatoes should be left whole or quartered, and no sugar, salt or anything else
added, and if sound and well canned
will keep nicely for two years. They
must not be cooked as much as other fruit.
All other fntits must bo thoroughly cook
ed,    but not  long enough to make them
strong.
Fruit must always be boiling hot for
sealing, the cans well filled to the top
edge, and no bubbles or air holes down
through the jars. A spoon handle thrust
down the jar will work the bubbles to the
top, and a little more hot juice may then
be added. Fruit should not be too thick
to settle well into the jars as dipped or
poured in. This is especially true of
pumpkin, which must be thinner than one
might suppose; it also applies to apples
and a few other fruits. All drops of
juice must be rubbed from the neck of the
the stove,    or some place where the heat
will be steady and slow.
We must not expect to make fine jelly
on quick time. Thj slower it is made,
and the smaller the amount of juice used,
the finer the jelly will be. Loss than a
quart will be most successful. Keep a
clean sieve or wire screen on top of the
vessel, be sure to prevent scorching, and
then take time easy. When it has evaporated about one-half or more, add as
niurh white A sugar by measure as there
was juice at first. Stir and heat slowly,
aud watch very carefully until it is safe in
the glasses.
Farm Home of D. I_. Stephenson,    Clinton   County.
jar with a moist cloth, and lid and rubber should be dry and screwed down tight,
very tight, so as to entirely exclude the
air. Then do not tamper with the lids
after this. When the jars are cool, place
in a cool, dark cellar, in the place where
they are to remain until used. Moving
fruit may start it to spoiling. If necessary to handle jars, do not lift them by
the tops.
While fruit tastes much better put up
fresh each year, we have had many kinds
of fruit keep well for two years or longer.
Pumpkin keeps well through the winter,
if kept cool, but at best tends to spoil at
the approach of warm weather. Corn
may also be kept Dor many months by cutting it from the cob, cooking with sufficient water to stir well, season with
pepper and salt, nnd fill hot into the cans
to about three-fourths full then fill to the
top with cooked tomatoes, boiling hot,
and seal tightly. Without the addition
of anything else this keeps as sweet and
fresh as when put up.
For making jelly, use as little water as
necessary in cooking the fruit, and thus
save time later in boiling down the juice.
Strain through wire jelly sieve, without
pressing pulp. Pulp may then be thinned
down and sweetened for pies, but might
not keep if canned. To make a clear,
firm jelly, having original fruity taste, do
not add the sugar to the juice until juice
has been boiled down about full time. It
will then jell very soon after the sugar
is added, and should not be allowed to
boil or foam up, as both fine flavor and
color would be ruined. It should only
simmer around the edges, and it is safest
to keep the pan or kettle on the back o{
If it is a dark jelly—blackberry, grape
or blue plum—the little bubbles around the
edge should retain their original bluish
color. If  you   find   they   have   turned
brownish you may know you have
scorched your jelly. Have the glasses
ready and yarm, and when the jelly is
done pour it into them. The jelly should
be warm enough to pour smoothly, but
do not make a mistake here. Here the
process differs from the canning. Fruit
should be put into the cans boiling hot,
but jelly must not be boiled up to put into the glasses, for this would be spoiling
it at the last moment. Never, after the
sugar is added to the juice, should it boil
up or foam in the kettle. When the
jelly has set firmly in tlie glasses, tie
several folds of paper over the top of each,
ond set in a cool, well-ventilated, dry
place. Do not at any time set it in the
sun.
Plums, blackberries, grapes, currants
and quinces jell very readily. Quinces
make a very firm jelly, but must have all
seeds and cores removed or the mass will
be stringy and not satisfactory. If apples are added in putting up; quinces, a
better flavor is obtained.
To prevent crystals in grape jelly, the
plain cooked and strained juice of the
fruit should be allowed to stand over
night. Then, without stirring it up, pour
off only the clear liquid, leaving about
a cupful of the grainy settlings in the vessel,    then proceed as with other jellies.
M. D.
Fruit Always Keeps.
2d Premium.—The first requisite to suc-
ii -sful running nre perfectly sweet cans,
a good quality of new rubbers, and
straight lids. After emptying cans I wash
them in soap suds, rinse in very warm
water, then fill with boiling water and
let stand awhile, then empty, and when
perfectly dry put away for next year, and
I have a good start toward a successful
canning muoh. I always use a granite
iron kettle holding about six quarts. Never
use tin. I haven't lost a quart of fruit
for at least ten years and have never used
arid or other preservatives, except pure
granulated sugar, and always can in
glass. Can all fruit when freshly ripened, before wilting or becoming soft, nnd
always   sweeten   when   canning. Cook
slowly, as hard boiling forms too much
foam which whon *4ot.tlod leaves one or
two inohes of empty space at tne top of
cut.
Canned Mra wherries.—Select firm; not
overripe berriea. . Wash and till glass
jars, adding one and one-half cups of
sugar to a half-gallon jar ofl berries. Place
the jars in clothes boiler, with a little
hay in the bottom to prevent breakage, fill
with cold wator to within two incues of
the top of the cans, place over the stove
where the wator will reaoh the boiling
point. Boil about half an hour, then remove from the tire, till eaoh can from one
of the number, and seal. Canned in
this way the berries preserve their color
better than wheu cooked before canning.
Always keep in a dry, dark, cool place.
Preserved Strawberries. Choose the
largest and finest berries for preserving.
Weigh, and use equal quantities of
sugar and berries. Make a thick syrup
of the sugar, using one-fourth water, boil
hard five minutes, add the berries, not
too many at a time, and boil 20 minutes.
Then skim out into small jars, fill with
syrup and seal. I always seal my preserves, to insure perfect keeping and prevent mold. Wh'en working with strawberries, there is often an amount of juice
left, which I utilize in making jelly.
Strawberry jelly. Add enough water
to the berries to prevent sticking, and boil
five minutes. Strain, and use equal parts
of juice and sugar, making only a small
quantity at a time—about three glasses.
Boil briskly 25 minutes. Pour into
glasses, and, when cold, tie up with paper,
which as proven more satisfactory than
the  tin  lids provided  for the  purpose.
Canned mulberries. Mulberries alone
will positively not keep, but canned with
rhubarb, green currants or gooseberries,
one cupful of mulberries to a one quart
jar, and sweetened to taste, will keep and
makes very nice pies.
Canned cherries. Always pit cherries.
Use one cup of sugar to a quart of cherries, as they contain so much acid. Can
the same ti_ strawberries, cither by filling
cans first and boiling in boiler, or by cooking before canning.
Huckleberries, blackberries and raspberries may all be canned in the same
manner, using one cup of sugar to two
quarts of berries, also grapes, after preparing as follows: Squeeze the pulp from
the skin of ripe grapes, stew the pulp and
strain   through   a   colander. Add   the
skins to the pulp, and can. This makes
delicious  pies.
Canned peaches. Pare and pit the
poaches, and use only half a cup of sugar
to half a gallon of peaches, as tloo much
sugar destroys the delicate flavor. Can
a few seeds with the peaches. Preserve peaches same as strawberries.
Peach    jelly.        Use    the    parings of
peaches  for jelly.       Cover  to  within  an
inch of the top wilh cold water.      Ret on
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