86. There is real pleasure in preserving their lusciousness for winter use. Use sound, ripe, but not overripe, fruits for canning. For jellies some may be underripe 



Saving the Garden's Surplus— By Edith l. Fullerton 



Long 

 Island 



CANNING AND PRESERVING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE THAT OTHERWISE WOULD 

 GO TO WASTE — METHODS, TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES — WHAT TO CAN AND HOW TO DO IT 



Photographs by H. B. Fullerton 



TF this is your first flight in the art of pre- 

 -*- serving stud}' all the devices to make labor 

 as light as possible and have the result as 

 great a success as may be. Don't for one 

 moment contemplate tins; they are villains 

 in disguise, besides being usable but once 

 and then a burden to the household to dis- 

 pose of. Glass is good forever. Those 

 which have been in use for many years are 

 of two general types, the one having a screw 

 metal top, the other a clamp glass top. To 

 my mind the latter is superior, for, when 

 the clamp top jar is once closed (which 

 requires but little strength) that is the end 

 of it. The screw top, on the other hand, 

 always needs a few more turns, and even 

 then one is not sure of its being tight. In 

 opening these jars raise the clamp, run a 

 knife between the rubber ring and the glass 

 top, allowing a little air to enter, and the jar 

 is easily opened. Nothing is spoiled, and 

 the jar is as good as new the following year. 

 The screw top never will unscrew easily, and 

 usually a knife is used to force matters, to 

 the permanent injury of the top. If the 

 screw top jars be placed under running hot 



water for a moment they usually open without 

 the aid of a knife. 



A new type of jar is worked on the sim- 

 ple vacuum principle. It is a wide-mouthed 

 bottle, with a rubber ring fitting over the 

 top, and a metal lid held in place by a clamp 

 until the contents of the jar are cooked and 

 cooled. Then the clamp is removed and the 

 lid remains in place. To open insert a knife 

 until a little air enters, when the lid will fall 

 off. For a preserving kettle agate ware is 



87. PicKles are placed in brine strong enough to float 

 an egg before vinegar and spices are added 



69 : : 



preferable nowadays, though in the olden 

 days iron and copper were considered abso- 

 lutely essential to success. 



Boil the jars hi a wash boiler, placing 

 them on something to hold them from 

 the bottom of the kettle, as the intense 

 heat of the cooking is liable to break the 

 glass. 



With these articles you may preserve the 

 surplus crops of the garden, though there are 

 many other little devices which will facili- 

 tate work to a marked degree. 



Few vegetables beside tomatoes are ever 

 attempted in the home canning. Why? 

 Beans nearly always receive one trial, gen- 

 erally spoil, and never have further attention. 

 The only art of their preservation lies in 

 destroying all germs of mold or ferment. 

 This is done by putting the goods into the 

 jars, placing the covers in position, and then 

 boiling them. As a rule vegetables should 

 be blanched or parboiled before being placed 

 in the jars. This, while not destroying the 

 flavor, removes any acrid quality. This par- 

 boiling is done in boiling salted water, though 

 I have put up tomatoes by boiling them in 



