THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



229 



spider witli a little butter and lard in 

 it, let it get hot, and slice the apples 1 

 into it, spi-iukle a little sugar over i 

 1-hem, and fiy slow" to a nice brown, 

 1:aking great cure not to let it burn. 



FRUIT SYRUPS. 



By Miss J. Power. 

 What a pity that the medicinal 

 virtues of grajie syrup are not pro- 

 perly known. Grape syi-up, or Iruit 

 syrup of <iny kind, is not jelly, but the 

 pure juice boiled down without sugar 

 till it thickens like syinij). All fruits 

 have their own sugar, which may be 

 condensed Ijy long evaporation, making 

 the most delicious and healthy form of 

 preserves. Pick over the gi-apes, re- 

 jecting all unsound ones, and pi'ess in 

 a cloth in any convenient way, the old 

 wooden sci-ew press being much better 

 than anything with metal about it, 

 "which gives a hai-sh flavor. Strain the 

 juice into a porcelain kettle, or, what is 

 better, a thick, shallow stoneware jug, 

 holding four gallons or more ; heat 

 quickly and boil hour after hour stead- 

 ily, without scoi'ching. Stoneware 

 holds the heat and is less apt to bui'n 

 juice or jelly than any stoveware. The 

 juice cooks best set in the oven, out of 

 dust, where no draft can check its boil- 

 ing. All syrups evaporate faster in 

 certain states of the atmosi)here than 

 others, and a clear, drying day, or one 

 just before rain, when the water boils 

 away fast in the tea-kettle, is the chosen 

 time for all preserving. Making syrup 

 is an all-day affair, and a good plan is 

 to set the jars of juice in the oven at 

 evening and keep a low fire all night, 

 finishing off" next forenoon. Six quarts 

 of grape-juice should make one of 

 syru]), \vinecoloured, lucent, of delicious, 

 refreshing })erfume taid flavor. One 

 tablespoonful in a glass of water gives 

 a delightful drink, like fresh gr.ipe- 

 juice, the true substitute for wine with 

 all temperate people, and the finest 



medicine for correcting a feverish, 

 bilious state ever known. The Syrup 

 itself is valuable for restoring strength, 

 and consumptive persons should take it 

 by the tamV)ler daily, sipping it leisurely 

 with sugar, if too tart for the taste. It 

 makes new, lich blood, it cleanses the 

 system, cleai-s brain and feeds starved 

 nerves. It has the hypophosphites 

 which doctors prescribe for wastes of 

 tissue, and taken freely will arrest even 

 critical stages of disease. People fed 

 on pure food, with abundance of fruit, 

 need never dread cancer, Bright's 

 disease, gout, neuralgia, dropsy, or a 

 dozen other of the worst scourges of 

 the race. — Hort. Times. 



Maxy artificial flavouring ex- 

 tracts are used in foods and drinks, 

 such as amylic valerianate, amylic 

 butyrate, propylic ether and caprylic 

 alcohol, which imitate the cdour and 

 flavour of the apple, the pear, the 

 pineapple, the strawberry and the 

 raspberry. These substances have 

 been tested by two French chemists, 

 who find them poisonous in considerable 

 quantities, but harmless in the usual 

 small doses. 



Jjruit ^t^jorts. 



FROM SCOTLAND. 



Sir, — The crop of apples this year in 

 England and Scotland will be very 

 small, owing to the severe drought, and 

 our reports from the Continent indi- 

 cate they are in a similar position to 

 ourselves. 



Under these circumstances we shall 

 have to rely mainly upon supplies 

 drawn fi'om your country and Canada. 

 Therefore the prospects that good 

 steady prices will be made during the 

 season is assui-ed. 



The qualities most in demand here 

 are Newtown Pippins, Kings, Bald- 



