216 BTJIST'S FAMILY KITCHEN 



GATHERING THE FRUIT. The common practice of picking the fruit 

 with the footstalks attached, is one of the very*worst systems, causing 

 them to be handled and re-picked before they go to the table. Early in 

 the morning take a vessel, basket, or box, of convenient size, and pick 

 the fruit before it is softened by the sun. Lay hold of the calyx or cup 

 at the base of the fruit, with the nail of the first finger and thumb of 

 the left hand, and with the first finder of the right, give the fruit a gen- 

 tle but quick draw, and it will come off into the hand without the least 

 bruise or damage of any kind and thus proceed till your vessel is full. 

 Strawberries should go to the table without being turned or handled in 

 any way, when the full, rich aroma of the fruit will be preserved. 

 Those that are carried to market to be retailed for family use, should 

 all be in portable boxes, in the same way as Raspberries. The present 

 mode is disgusting in the extreme ; large tubfuls, bruised and crushed, 

 spooned into quart measures from vessels of very questionable charac- 

 ter, in both color and appearance. The denizens carrying home their 

 quantum of mashed matter, under the name of Strawberry, from such 

 a mixture, can know little of the delicious aroma and rich flavor of the 

 pure fruit called STRAWBERRY. 



PEPPER. 



Capsicum annnum. Fiment, Fr. Spanischer Pfeffer, Ger. 



THERE are several varieties of the Pepper cultivated for pickling and 

 kitchen purposes its natural locality is very generally diffused over all 

 tropical countries, requiring in artificial culture a very warm locality, 

 rich light soil, and careful cultivation. The green pods or small berries 

 of all the varieties are used for pickling ; the ripe fruit is dried and used 

 in small portions as a seasoning of the hottest quality. 



Bell, or Sweet. Large bell-shaped and most esteemed for pickles, the 

 skin being thick and more pulpy than any of the others. 



Tomato^ or Flat. About the size and shape of the Tomato, is also 

 very generally used for the same purpose ; it is of a hotter nature than 

 the former. 



Cayenne. Fruit small, round, tapering, long, or curved, and of the 

 very hottest quality. We have seen about twenty varieties of the Pep- 

 per ; their fruit, when ripe, from about the size of Peas to the size of 

 Melons, and all of a bright red or bright yellow color. 



CULTURE. Sow a small portion of seed, thinly, half an inch deep, on 

 a hot-bed or in a pot in a warm window, any time in March or April 

 and transplant in May or June, on good ground, one foot apart, and 

 eighteen inches from row to row. In a mild climate, sow at the same 

 period in the open ground, in a small bed of light soil, and transplant 

 when three to four inches high during moist weather, or water freely 

 in time of planting. As they grow, hoe frequently, and earth up the 

 stems similar to Cabbage. 



