CANNING AND PRESERVING FRUIT IN THE HOME 
Young willow branches, woven into a 
mat, also make a good bed for bottles and 
jars. 
The wire basket is a saver of time and 
strength. The fruit to be peeled is put 
into the basket, which is lowered into a 
deep kettle partially filled with boiling 
water. After a few minutes the basket 
is lifted from the boiling water, plunged 
for a moment into cold water, and the 
fruit is ready to have the skin drawn off. 
A strong wire sieve is a necessity when 
purees of fruit are to be made. These 
sieves are known as puree sieves. They 
are made of strong wire and in addition 
have supports of still stronger wire. 
A fruit pricker is easily made and saves 
time. Cut a piece half an inch deep from 
a broad cork; press through this a dozen 
or more coarse darning needles; tack the 
cork on a piece of board. Strike the 
fruit on the bed of needles, and you have 
a dozen holes at once. When the work 
is finished, remove the cork from the 
poard, wash and dry thoroughly. A little 
oil on the needles will prevent rusting. 
With needles of the size suggested there 
is little danger of the points breaking, 
put it is worth remembering that the use 
of pricking machines was abandoned in 
curing prunes on a commercial scale in 
California because the steel needles broke 
and remained in the fruit. 
A wooden vegetable masher is indis- 
pensable when making jellies and purees. 
A syrup gauge and glass cylinder are 
not essential to preserving, canning and 
jelly making, but they aré valuable aids 
in getting the right proportion of sugar 
for fruit or jelly. The syrup gauge costs 
about 50 cents and the cylinder about 25 
cents. <A lipped cylinder that holds a 
little over a gill is the best size. 
Small iron rings, such as sometimes 
come off the hub of cart wheels, may be 
used instead of a tripod for sligntly rais- 
ing the preserving kettels from the hot 
stove or range. 
To make a flannel straining bag, take 
a square piece of flannel (27 by 27 inches 
is a good size), fold it to make a three- 
cornered bag, stitch one of the sides, cut 
the top square across, bind the opening 
719 
With strong, broad tape, stitch on this 
binding four tapes with which to tie the 
bag to a frame. 
To use this bag, tie it to a strong frame 
or to the backs of two kitchen chairs. If 
the chairs are used, place some heavy 
articles in them; or the bag may hang 
on a pole (a broom handle) which rests 
on the backs of the chairs. A high stool 
turned upside down makes a good sup- 
port for the bag. Put a bowl on the floor 
under the bag, then pour in the fruit 
juice, which will pass through compara- 
tively clear. Before it is used the bag 
should be washed and boiled in clear 
water. 
Selection and Preparation of the Fruit 
The selection of fruit is one of the first 
steps in obtaining successful results. The 
flavor of fruit is not developed until it is 
fully ripe, but the time at which the 
fruit is at its best for canning, jelly 
making, etc., is just before it is perfectly 
ripe. In all soft fruits the fermentative 
stage follows closely upon the perfectly 
ripe stage; therefore it is better to use 
underripe rather than overripe fruit. This 
is especially important in jelly making 
for another reason also: In overripe fruit 
the pectin begins to lose its jelly-making 
quality. 
All fruits should, if possible, be freshly 
picked for preserving, canning, and jelly 
making. No imperfect fruit should be 
canned or preserved. Gnarly fruit may 
be used for jellies or marmalades by cut- 
ting out defective portions. Bruised 
spots should be cut out of peaches and 
pears. In selecting small-seeded fruits, 
like berries, for canning, those having a 
small proportion of seed to pulp should 
be chosen. In dry seasons berries have a 
larger proportion of seeds to pulp than 
in wet or normal seasons, and it is not 
wise to can or preserve such fruit unless 
the seeds are removed. The fruit should 
be rubbed through a sieve that is fine 
enough to keep back the seeds. The 
strained pulp can be preserved as a puree 
or marmalade. When fruit is brought 
into the house put it where it will keep 
cool and crisp until you are ready to 
use it. 
