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THE Y SA V. 



tropics that it will not do above the frost line This is 

 a mistake. Tobacco is a tropical plant, and yet it pro- 

 duces well as far north as Kentucky, Connecticut and 

 Virginia. — J. L.Normand, Marksville, La. 



Handling Tomato Plants. — When going home from 

 the city market, I generally drive out an alley, and can 

 almost always pick up a wagon load of tin cans before 

 I get out of town ; mostly of the size in which corn and 

 tomatoes are packed. These I throw down in some out 

 of the way place until I have gathered together as many 

 as I need. During the winter when not very busy we 

 build a fire between two logs, and when we have a good 

 bed of coals, throw on a bushel or so of cans. In a 

 very short time the tops and bottoms drop off and the 

 sides pop open, and with a long stick we toss them out. 

 Some fine wire is then procured and pieces cut just long 

 enough to make a loop to fit over the can. The sides of 

 can should be lapped about three-fourths of an inch. 

 The natural spring of the can will hold the wire on. 

 The cans are all prepared in this way and stored in a 

 shed until wanted in the spring. 



About three months before it is safe to set plants in 

 the open ground we start the plants in a hot-bed. In 

 about six weeks the plants will be three or four inches 

 high, when a milder hot-bed is made, and the cans set 

 in as thick as they will stand and filled with rich soil. 

 Into each of these cans is set one plant, where it is al- 

 lowed to grow four or five weeks. When they begin to 

 crowd they should be separated, so as to have plenty of 

 room, and let stand until safe to plant out. When the 

 ground is marked off, throw out a spadeful of soil where 

 each plant is to grow, and apply a little bone-dust or 

 other fertilizer. 



Now lift the plant, can, soil and all, and set in boxes 

 convenient to handle, and haul to the field ; set can and 

 all into the hole, so that when the soil is drawn in, the 

 surface will be about an inch higher than the can. Cut 

 the wire with a nipper and lift off the can, hoe in the 

 soil and the work is done. It is a good plan to wet the 

 plants well before lifting from the bed. In this way I 

 have often made a good thing off an acre of plants be- 

 fore others have any to sell. A good deal depends, 

 however, upon the variety. I used to grow the Acme, 

 but lately I have used Livingston's Beauty. — F. G. 

 Johnson, Cohtnilnis, O. 



Pickles and Preserves — Canning Corn. — Those who 

 have had trouble in keeping canned corn should try the 

 following recipe : Take corn as soon as it is old enough 

 for roasting (if too old the kernels will be hard). Cut 

 it from the cob, taking care that none of the latter is 

 taken in your desire to get all the corn. Pack it into 

 glass jars, using something to pound it tightly down. 

 Put on the tops without the rings, and screw them down, 

 but not so tightly as to prevent the escape of air. Place 

 them in a boiler with something between them, and fill 

 it with cold water nearly to the tops of the cans. Cover 

 the boiler, and let the water heat gradually to the boil- 

 ing point ; boil steadily four or five hours. A pailful of 



the corn should be cooked with the rest to replace that 

 lost by shrinkage in the jars. Put on the rubbers, screw 

 on the tops tightly, and keep in a cool, dark place. It 

 will keep. 



To keep Pickles Green. — Put the cucumbers in strong 

 brine as fast as they are gathered from the vines. When 

 you have enough drain off the brine. Line a kettle with 

 the young leaves of grape vines and put in the cucum- 

 bers, throwing away any that have turned soft. A little 

 powdered alum, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a 

 gallon of cucumbers, should be sprinkled in. Add a lit- 

 tle water, cover them closely, and steam for several 

 hours. Don't boil at all, nor let them come to the boil- 

 ing point, but just keep them steaming. When green 

 enough, pack in stone jars and pour over them boiling 

 vinegar, to which has been added sugar (one teacupful 

 to a gallon), a few whole peppers, cloves, allspice and a 

 little celery seed. Pour the vinegar off and reheat every 

 week for four weeks. Cover the jar closely, putting a 

 weight on the cucumbers to keep them under the pickle ; 

 they are very nice. 



S7veel Pickled Ciicnmhers. — Select ripe cucumbers of 

 uniform size, pare, and remove the seeds. Make brine 

 strong enough to support an egg, pour over the cucum- 

 bers and let them stand nine days, stirring every day. 

 Then soak them in clear water in which has been stirred 

 a teaspoonful of alum to each gallon of water, for thirty- 

 six hours. Make a syrup of one pint of good vinegar, 

 one pint sugar, half a teacupful of water, two table- 

 spoonfuls each of broken cinnamon bark, mace and pep- 

 per grains. Let the mixture boil, and drop in the pieces 

 of cucumbers ; cook till tender, but be careful not to let 

 them get soft. Remove to a jar ; when all are cooked, 

 pour the syrup over them and tie closely. 



IVater'neloH Rind Pickles. — Pare the rinds and trim off 

 all soft places ; cut in the desired shape, remembering 

 they will shrink considerably in cooking. Sprinkle a 

 very little salt over them, and let them stand over night. 

 Then soak them a few hours in clear water. Steam 

 them until a fork will go through easily, and then drain 

 off every bit of water. Put them in a stone jar and 

 pour over them the prepared vinegar, which should be 

 ready and waiting on the fire. Use about three pounds 

 of sugar to two quarts of good vinegar ; put in a sliced 

 lemon and whole cloves, and use cinnamon to taste. 

 Let it stand a few days, then turn off and reheat ; it may 

 be necessary to do this several times if the weather is 

 very hot. 



Citron Preserves. — Peel the citron and slice about half 

 an inch thick. Cover the slices with cold water, adding 

 a handful of salt to each large pailful. The next day 

 drain off this water, weigh the citron, and put it to cook 

 in clear water. Boil until a broom splint will easily 

 pass through it ; drain well, and to each pound of the 

 citron as before weighed, put half a pound of white 

 sugar. Boil slowly until the citron is perfectly trans- 

 parent, and the juice forms a thick syrup. When cold, 

 flavor with extract of lemon and cover closely. 



