686 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



day. Plums should be canned or preserved just before they are dead 

 ripe. Quinces should have turned a rich yellow before being cooked. 

 They are finer if they ripen on the trees than if picked green and kept 

 until yellow. 



All the small fruits, except gooseberries, which are generally used 

 green, should be just ripe and perfectly fresh. There are fewer seeds in 

 the small fruits that come early in the season than in those that come 

 later. Therefore they should be preserved as early in the season as 

 possible. 



Fruits that are intended for jellies should be picked just before they 

 are perfectly ripe. If over ripe, the pecten begins to lose its jelly-making 

 quality. This is particularly true of the small fruits. Small fruits that 

 are to be employed for jelly should not be picked directly after a rain, 

 as they will then contain too large a percentage of water for jelly making. 

 Cherries for canning may be sweet or sour, but for preserving, the large, 

 red, sour ones are best. 



The Preparation of the Fruit. m 



Knowing as we do that the fruit is liable to be covered with bacteria, 

 mold, and yeast spores, as well as dust, the first care will be to clean it. 

 Small fruits like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and currants are 

 spoiled if allowed to soak in water. If they require washing, put a few 

 at a time into a colander and pour over them quickly some cold water, 

 then turn them into a sieve to drain. Always wash small fruits before they 

 are hulled or stemmed. Quinces must be rubbed hard with a coarse 

 cloth before they are washed. Pears and apples should be washed and 

 drained before paring. Peaches are put into boiling water to loosen the 

 skins and this cleans them also. Tomatoes are, like peaches, put into 

 boiling water to loosen the skins, but as they sometimes rest on the ground 

 they should be washed before being put into the boiling water. If you 

 have a large wire dish drainer you can drain the large fruits in it after 

 they have been washed. Do not wash or otherwise prepare any more 

 fruit than you can ])ut up in a short time. The pared fruits turn dark 

 quickly, and the small fruits lose juice and crispness. 



You have, of course, cleaned the kitchen before beginning to prepare 

 the fruit. Now to do the work easily and successfully you must have 

 a system. Here is a good one to follow, i. Decide on the amount of 

 fruit you will cook at one time, then sterilize the jars and utensils. Have 

 plenty of fresh hot water on the range, for it will be required for making 

 syrup and other purposes. 2. Get all your working appliances together. 

 3. Weigh or measure the amount of fruit you are to cook at one time, 

 or some smaller, convenient part of it. which will equally divide the 

 whole, as for example, if you have fixed upon eight pounds or eight 



