46S THE FARMER'S AND 



the form of a tremulous jelly. Vegetable jelly is a d 

 tinct principle existing in fruits, which possesses the pr<\ 

 erty of gelatinizing when boiled and cooled : but it is I 

 principle entirely different from the gelantine of animal 

 bodies, although the name of jelly, common to both, some- 

 times leads to an erroneous idea on that subject. Animal 

 jelly, or gelantine, is glue ; whereas, vegetable jelly is 

 rather analogous to gum, though different from it, and not 

 nearly so nutritious as animal jelly or gelantine. In 

 preparing vegetable jellies, it is necessary to guard against 

 boiling them too long, since this destroys their property 

 of gelatinizing, and they then assume the appearance of 

 mucilage or gum ; and this accident is most likely to 

 occur, when the quantity of sugar is too small to absorb 

 the water of the juice. Jellies are most perfect, as to 

 beauty and transparency, when clarified sugar is used : 

 but for ordinary purposes, refined sugar answers very 

 well. 



Currant jelly. The usual method of obtaining the juice 

 is to bruise the currants, and to pass them through a sieve ; 

 but then it is apt to be turbid and thick. A better mode 

 is to warm the fruit by steaming it, or by putting it closely 

 covered into a slow oven ; the juice will then flow from 

 it without much pressure. Put it now in the pre- 

 serving pan on the fire to boil, in order to evaporate some 

 of the water ; let it boil a quarter of an hour ; then take it 

 off, skim it, and pass it through a flannel bag to render it 

 clear ; add sugar to it in the proportion of a pound and a 

 half of refined sugar to one pint of the juice, and put this 

 on the fire to simmer very gently, until, by dipping a spoon 

 in the jelly, and again raising it, the jelly becomes stiff: 

 then the boiling is sufficient- Take it now off the fire, 

 and let it stand till the scum has collected on the surface : 

 remove this, run the whole through a hair sieve, and put the 

 clear jelly into pots. When eold, cover the surface with 



