SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 375' 



"So the strawberries will not all rise to the top. By turning: 

 them two or three times while cooling, the berries are all mixed 

 through the juice, and look as round and plump as when fresh. 

 Otherwise, they are in a solid mass in the top of the can. And 

 if any mold forms on them, it does not waste so many, either; 

 but I haven't left much chance for mold, for I let them stand 

 five or ten minutes when first filled, and they settle down more 

 than any other fruit. Then 1 unscrew the top, and fill up with, 

 some hot, and they are so much nicer." 



And Madge surveyed, with a very pardonable pride, the row 

 of tempting-looking fruit cooling on the table. 



The strawberries mostly disposed of, the gooseberries were 

 more trouble, for they were more remarkable for their acidity 

 than for anything else, and no amount of sugar would sweeten 

 them. Why they should be so much more sour than those of 

 the same kind at her mother's, Madge failed to ascertain. 

 Whether the locality, time of gathering, or mode of cooking, 

 still remains a mystery; but the gooseberries were rejected 

 thereafter, and their place more than filled by the wild fruits of 

 blueberry and huckleberry, for Jerry was sure a huckleberry pie 

 was about the best thing manufactured in the kitchen. His 

 taste had been put to a severe test once when working for 

 Farmer Rode, for Mrs. Rode thought the berries were so sweet 

 they only needed a sprinkling of sugar, and consequently it was 

 entirely impalatable to Jerry. Now Madge knew that all fruit 



Eies needed a tea cup full of sugar to two of the fruit, no matter 

 ow sweet it might be, and so, though most of their summer 

 fruits they used uncooked, her huckleberry pies, just from the 

 northwest corner of the cellar, were simply delicious. 



The work Jerry put into the garden each evening was return- 

 ing him a hundred fold, in the pleasure of watching things grow, 

 in the pride of having everything so nice, and in the enjoyment 

 of the table. No day passed when there was not something for 

 dinner, fresh, tender and sweet. There was some discoveries 

 made too. The different kinds of peas were not equally good. 

 Another year would find a different variety. The turnip seed 

 planted in March, he did not care to hear mentioned, and the 

 onions were that variety, they were appropriately named multi- 

 pliers, which would take some work to eradicate from the 

 garden, so persistent were they in spreading. The late beans 

 had proven a good investment, and some planted later still were 

 ready for fall use. And Jerry was getting seeds for another 

 year. Some cranberry beans at one of the neighbor's had pleased 

 him wonderfully, he was sure he had never eaten anything so 

 rich and sweet in the shape of a bean before, so he put on his 

 memorandum to send to Vick for a quart, and to get the poles 

 ready during the winter. 



