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the boiling of the sugar and juice should 
not be continued too long. 
Fruits vary as to the quantities of 
sugar, acid, pectin, and gums in their 
composition. Some of the sour fruits con- 
tain more sugar than do some of the 
milder-flavored fruits. Currants, for ex- 
ample, often contain four or five times 
as much sugar as the peach. The peach 
does not contain so much free acid and 
it does contain a great deal of pectin 
bodies, which mask the acid; hence, the 
comparative sweetness of the ripe fruit. 
Selection and Handling of Fruit for Jelly 
Making 
An acid fruit is the most suitable for 
jelly making, though in some of the acid 
fruits, the strawberry, for example, the 
quantity of the jelly-making pectin is 
so small that it is dificult to make 
jelly with this fruit. If, however, some 
currant juice be added to the strawberry 
juice, a pleasant jelly will be the result; 
yet, of course, the flavor of the straw- 
berry will be modified. Here is a list 
of the most desirable fruits for jelly 
making. The very best are given first: 
Currant, crab apple, apple, quince, grape, 
blackberry, raspberry, peach. 
Apples make a very mild jelly, and it 
may be flavored with fruits, flowers, or 
spices. If the apples are acid it is not 
advisable to use any flavor. Juicy fruits, 
such as currants, raspberries, etc., should 
not be gathered after a rain, for they 
will have absorbed so much water as to 
make it difficult, without excessive boil- 
ing, to get the juice to jelly. If ber- 
ries are sandy or dusty it will be neces- 
sary to wash them, but the work should 
be done very quickly so that the fruit 
may not absorb much water. 
Large fruits, such as apples, peaches, 
and pears, must be boiled in water un- 
til soft. The strained liquid will con- 
tain the flavoring matter and pectin. 
It requires more work and skill to 
make jellies from the fruits to which 
water must be added than from the juicy 
fruits. If the juicy fruits are gathered 
at the proper time one may be nearly 
sure that they contain the right pro- 
portion of water. If gathered after a 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
rain the fruit must be boiled a little 
longer than the superfluous water may 
pass off in steam. In the case of the 
large fruits a fair estimate is 3 quarts 
of strained juice from 8 quarts of fruit 
and about 4 quarts of water. If the 
quantity of juice is greater than this it 
should be boiled down to 3 quarts. Ap- 
ples will always require 4 quarts of 
water to 8 quarts of fruit, but juicy 
peaches and plums require only 8 or 
314 quarts. 
The jelly will be clearer and finer if 
the fruit is simmered gently and not 
stirred during cooking. 
It is always best to strain the juice 
first through cheesecloth and without 
pressure. If the cloth is double the juice 
will be quite clear. When a very clear 
jelly is desired the strained juice should 
pass through a flannel or felt bag. The 
juice may be pressed from the fruit left 
in the strainer and used in marmalade 
or for second-quality jelly. 
To make jelly that will not crystallize 
(candy) the right proportion of sugar 
must be added to the fruit juice. If 
the fruit contains a high percentage of 
sugar, the quantity of added sugar should 
be a little less than the quantity of fruit 
juice. That is to say, in a season when 
there has been a great deal of heat and 
sunshine there will be more sugar in 
the fruit than in a cold, wet season; con- 
sequently, 1 pint of currant juice will 
require but three-quarters of a pint of 
sugar. But in a cold, wet season the 
pint of sugar for the pint of juice must 
be measured generously. 
Another cause of the jelly crystalliz- 
ing is hard boiling. When the syrup 
boils so rapidly that particles of it are 
thrown on the upper part of the sides 
of the preserving kettle they often form 
crystals. If these crystals are stirred 
into the syrup they are apt to cause the 
mass to crystallize in time. 
The use of the syrup gauge and care 
not to boil the syrup too violently would 
do away with all uncertainty in jelly 
making. The syrup gauge should reg- 
ister 25 degrees, no matter what kind of 
fruit is used. Jellies should be covered 
