INTRODUCTION. xxix 



a dish being put underneath ; they arc fo be 

 broke with the hand or a wooden pestle^ and rub- 

 bed about till all the soft niatter is forced through 

 the hair-cloth, the seeds and skins only remaining'*- 

 This soft matter is to be weighed, and to be beat 

 up in a mortar with twice its weight of loaf 

 sugar, first powdered. 



Sloes are to be gathered when they arc mode- 

 rately ripc^ and they are to be set over the fire 

 in water, till they swell and arc softened, but 

 not till the skin bursts ; they are then to be 

 laid upon a sieve, and the soft matter driven 

 through as in the other case, and three times 

 the quantity of sugar is to be mixed with this> 



that it may make a conserve by beating toge- 

 ther. 



Syrups are to be made of many ingredients : 

 they may be made indeed of any infusion, with 

 sugar added to it in a due quantity ; and the 

 way to add this so that the syrups shall keep 

 and not candy, is to proportion the sugar to the 

 liquor very exactly. One rule will serve for all 

 this matter, and save a great deal of repetition. 

 The liquor of which a syrup is to be made 

 may be the juice of some herb or fruit, or a 

 decoction, or an infusion ; which ever it be, let 



L 



it stand till quite clear ; then to every wine pint 

 of it, add a pound and three quarters of loaf 

 sugar, first beat to powder ; put the sugar and 

 the liquor together into an earthen pan that 

 will go into a large saucepan ; put water in the 

 saucepan, and set it over the lire. Let the pan 

 stand in it till the sugar is perfectly melted, scum- 

 ming it all the time ; then as soon as it is cold, 

 it may be put up for use, and will keep the 

 year round without danger. 



This being set down a» the general method of 



