§J The Scented (jar den {%£ 



whether plainly stewed or made into a conserve ? And I 

 remember also the bunches of white and red currants 

 candied whole. These were very attractive, for they looked 

 as though they were made of glass. They seemed very 

 * superior ' to the rose leaves, but the latter were sweet 

 and the former very acid, in spite of their deceptive 

 coating of sugar. Both rose and carnation petals were 

 preserved by coating them on both sides with white of 

 egg well beaten. It was a fascinating process, done with 

 a tiny brush like a paint-brush. Then the petals were 

 spread out on very large dishes, and castor sugar care- 

 fully and evenly shaken over them. Then they were 

 turned over, and the other side was sugared. My great- 

 aunt invariably dried these rose petals in the sun, and 

 perhaps that is why they were so sweet. When dry they 

 were beautifully crisp and put away in layers with paper 

 between each layer in air-tight boxes. Primroses done like 

 this look very pretty, for the flowers are done whole. 

 And such syrups ! Elder syrup, which was very pungent 

 and luscious, clove carnation syrup (the best of all), mint 

 syrup (quince juice strongly flavoured v/ith mint), and 

 saffron syrup, of which I only remember that one of the 

 ingredients was Canary wine. The name ' Canary wine ' 

 made an impression on me, for as a child I thought it 

 must have something to do with canary birds, and I vaguely 

 wondered why ! The cupboard also contained many 

 homely medicines in which in those days I took no interest 

 at all. But I remember how often the village women 

 came for these remedies. For great-aunt Lancilla was 

 the trusted friend of every soul in the place. She had 

 known all the young generation from their birth upwards, 

 and for the scapegraces, of whom the village had quite its 

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