342 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
put into pots, jars, or bottles. This preserve ■will 
keep perfectly iu jars if cooled, aud then covered 
with pasted paper the same as jelly, or it may be 
put into a crock, the lid of which is well secured. 
Crab-apple Jellt. — Remove the specks, stems, 
and seeds, from Siberian crab-apples, and throw 
them into a pail of water. Put them into a porcelain 
kettle, cover with water, put on the Are, and stew 
until very tender, being careful not to let them burn 
or adhere at all to the Bottom of the kettle ; strain 
through a clean crash towel or cloth, pressing and 
wringing and straining, until the juice is extracted, 
and nothing but a small mass of dry pulp remains, 
which may be thrown away. Strain the juice 
through another cloth, or, what is better, a good 
flannel jelly bag; strain again, if it is wanted extra 
clear and fine. Return the juice to the kettle, 
measuring as you do so with a pint measure, and 
allow for each pint a pound of granulated white 
sugar. Place on the fire and let it boil briskly for 
twenty-five minutes. Now remove the kettle a 
little back, if the fire is large, and stir iu the sugar 
gradually. If all has been done properly, the jelly 
will form while you are stirring it, but it may be 
necessary to allow the kettle to remain on the fire, 
where it will boil very gently, or rather simmer, for 
about ten minutes. The judgment must be the 
guide in this matter. Obs. — You may boil the 
juiee as fast as you like, before the sugar is added, 
being careful not to let it burn, but after the sugar 
is added, I think it better to boil gently. Some 
persons put half as many green grapes to the apples 
before stewing. It is well to let the sugar stand in 
an open oven while the juice is being boiled, but 
you must be careful not to let it brown in the least, 
and it should be stirred occasionally. Of course a 
solid jelly will not be formed iu the kettle ; it must 
be turned into little cups or jars, and allowed to 
stand until next day, when it will probably be firm 
and clear. White paper, cut of the size and shape of 
the surface of the jelly, should be dipped in brandy 
and placed upon it; afterwards some white paper 
should be pasted over the mouth of the cup, and 
when dry, mark upon it the kind of jelly and the 
date of making. Store in a dry but cool closet 
or store-room. I never keep jelly iu the cellar. 
Peaches — To Preserve. — It is, I believe, ac- 
knowledged by every one that the old-fashioned 
way of doing up peaches, pound for pound, is not 
the best. Even those who prefer to do up their 
strawberries, plums, and raspberries in this way, 
admit that the delicious natural flavor of the 
peach can be retained only by bottling or canning. 
Bottles. — If old bottles are to be used, examine 
them carefully, reject any that are iu the least 
cracked, see that the lids are perfect. It is well to 
have these things attended to beforehand, as you 
may have fruit brought in that will require to be 
preserved from decay immediately, or it may 
be necessary to purchase new lids, or you may 
find that you will uot have bottles enough for 
the quantity of fruit at your service. I should 
advise persons with large peach orchards, and 
large families, to purchase the two-quart bottles, 
as they cost only a trifle more than the quart. 
It is not always necessary to purchase new 
lids for old bottles, as an experienced person can 
hermetically seal the mouth with a piece of strong 
cloth tied securely around the outside, and well 
covered with rosin and tallow, made in proportion 
of an ounce of tallow to half a pound of rosin. Be 
careful in this case that the entire opening and 
rim of the mouth of the bottle is covered with the 
wax and watch it to see that no blisters rise. 
To Skis Peaches. — To two quarts of wood 
ashes add four quarts of soft water, place in an 
iron pot, ashes and all, let it come to a boil, throw 
iu a dozen peaches, take them out almost immedi- 
ately and throw into a pail of cold water. The 
skin will slip off without any trouble, when the 
round ball should be passed to another pail of clear 
spring water to remain until wanted for the kettle ; 
put more peaches into the pot, and proceed iu the 
same manner until all arc done. 
Peaches — To Bottle. — Put into the porcelain or 
clean brass kettle two quarts of water, and a pound 
of sugar. Let it boil until the sugar is quite dis- 
solved ; put in fourteen, twenty-eight, or three 
times fourteen halves, if the peaches are small, and 
quarts are used. If the peaches are not stoned, ten, 
twenty, or thirty, should be put iu, according (you 
will perceive my idea) to the number of bottles 
desired to fill at one instant. One quart will hold 
fourteen halves or ten whole peaches. Let them 
come to a perfect boil, and continue to boil for 
not more than two or three minutes. If the fruit 
is very ripe, more boiling will have a tendency to 
crack the peaches and make the juice muddy, 
whereas it is desirable to have the fruit unbroken, 
and the juice as clear as water. Fill the bottles as 
quickly as possible, taking a fork to put iu the 
peaches, and filling up with boiling juice, using a 
very hot teacup for this purpose ; seal immediately. 
All the juice from the kettle will probably not have 
been used, and more water and sugar should be 
added, and more fruit, until the process is com- 
pleted. It is quite a help to have a kettle of water 
boiling on the back of the stove. Persons who 
have had no experience in bottling fruit should be 
reminded that intense heat coming suddenly upon 
the cool glass will crack the bottle, so that it is 
necessary to prepare the bottle by filling or nearly 
filling with quite warm water before using. 
PEAcn Pie. — Line a pie dish with a good paste, 
pare, stone, and quarter some nice, ripe peaches, 
and slice them on to the paste, adding a little 
sugar, cover with an upper paste, aud bake until 
the bottom and upper crust are done perfectly. 
Peach Pie another Wat. — Take a deep pie or 
pudding dish, skin a quantity of peaches, but do 
not take out the stones, and fill the dish, adding a 
little water and sugar. Cover witli a good whole- 
some pastry, rather thick, and bake in a moderate 
oven, leaving the door open awhile, if the upper 
crust seems to have baked before the fruit is done. 
No under crust. To be eaten cold. Is delicious 
with sweet cream. 
Plum Pie.— Green gage or the blue plums make an 
excellent pie if treated the same way as the peach. 
Moral Courage in a Housekeeper. 
The following is extracted from a very sensible 
letter of a lady who adopts the signature of " Pru- 
deutia." " All food should be of excellent quality, 
but not too complicated, or too many varieties at a 
single meal. We should conscientiously avoid 
habituating children to concentrated or highly sea- 
soned dishes, as it creates an artificial appetite, 
which, iu its turn, craves stimulating driuk. I 
think we should have the moral courage to set bo- 
fore our guests healthful food, that our example 
aud iuflueuce may be felt in the light direction. 
There are so many choice fruits, canned, and other- 
wise preserved, that a satisfactory aud at the same 
time unobjectionable meal may be prepared at any 
season of the year. There are a few choice friends 
iu this vicinity who make it a point, when they 
visit each other, not to overdo culinary matters, 
that the woman of the house may enjoy a social 
time with the rest. Most of us do our own work, 
and must give our time to preparing meals." 
Soap Making. 
Soap making is an important household opera- 
tion. We have already published some communi- 
cations upon the subject, and now give place to 
one from Mrs. M. C. Ross, Warsaw, 111., which has 
the merit of being direct and practical. She writes : 
"In the first place, if your wood is poor, your 
ashes will be poor and you will not have good soap. 
Take good care of your ashes, and one week before 
the lye is required, put them in the leach, pounding 
them down, solid. It is easier done if they are 
dampened. Then pour on water until they begin 
to drip, after which let them stand one week to 
" rot," then hang on your kettles and commence 
runuing off lye for operations. By letting the ashes 
stand to "rot," as it is called, the lye is stronger, 
and the soap of a better quality, and not so apt to 
be "livery." If the lye is too strong, I weaken it; 
if too weak, I boil it. The proper strength can be 
told by putting a fresh egg into it. It should throw 
the big end of the egg up above the surface to 
show about the size of a silver dime (if any one 
nowadays can find one to make the comparison). 
If the lye is a trifle weaker, the egg sinks. With 
lye of this strength, take a pound of clear grease, or 
its equivalent in common " soap grease," to each 
gallon of lye used, and set to boiling. After the 
grease is " eaten up," if the mixture will "eat" 
or take the plume off of a feather, put in more 
grease. If a white scum rises on top, skim it off, 
or put in more lye. This scum is grease, and 
should never be left until it is cold. Boil until it 
looks ropy as it runs off the stirrer. If not boiled 
too thick, all sediment will settle while it is cool- 
ing, and I prefer not to have the lye poured in as 
Mrs. Gage directs in an article iu the May number. 
A former writer gives her trouble with grease that 
was too salt. I think if 6he had rightly known, 
her lye was too strong. I never have trouble with 
salty grease except that it makes the soap hard. 
A lady once put up her ashes with mine for making 
soap. It was so strong as to bear an egg entirely 
above the lye. I weakened mine and had no diffi- 
culty. She tried an experiment, and boiled all day ; 
still, as she expressed it, " it would n't come worth 
a cent." An old lady seeing it, told her to pour 
water into it. She added nearly as much water as 
there was compound in the kettle. Instantly the 
soap came." 
m i »» » i . — 
Ella's Itj". — Ella came to visit her aunt, and 
as she was so much interested in plants we gave 
her a small cutting of Ivy iu a pot. Never was 
there a plant that had such attention as that Ivy, 
during her visit. It was carried from one window 
to another, to get a more favorable aspect, as she 
thought. Every hour, almost, she asked if it did not 
need water. Ella went to visit her grandmother, 
leaving her Ivy in our charge, with particular in- 
junctions to take care of it. A week after her aunt 
visited the grandmother, and Ella's first question 
was about her Ivy. The Ivy was taken good care 
of, and now Ella has the sole charge of it. It is 
pleasing to see the love of little children for some 
plant that they can call their own; they pet it a9 if 
it were a doll. There is no better plant for chil- 
dren than the Ivy. It will bear all the misuse they 
will give it, and repay all the care it gets by grow- 
ing luxuriantly. The plant is a long-lived one, and 
that which is a pleasure to the child may become a 
delight in maturcr years. 
Indian Custard Pudding-.— By M. E. 
E. 4 heaping t&blespoonfuls of Indian meal, 1 
tgg, to 1 quart of milk ; salt aud spice ; 6weeten to 
taste. Beat the egg and meal together and pour in 
the milk, and stir twice while baking. Bake one 
hour slowly. 
Spinach. — Wash the leaves, and boil tender in 
a very little water, salted slightly ; drain dry ; chop 
aud return to the pan, seasoning with plenty of 
butter and a little salt and pepper. Heat a small 
dish and place the vegetable neatly in the center, 
smoothing the edges with a spoon or knife. Gar- 
nish with cold boiled eggs in slices. 
Hint CHow Cliow for Roast 1 .anil* . 
— By " Anna." Take one-third onions to two- 
thirds cucumbers, add spearmint, green pepper-, 
and mustard, chop finely together, put into a 
jar, and add strong vinegar and salt ; cork it up 
and in a few days it will be fit for use. 
Cirapc Jolly. — By Aunt Mary. Pick the 
grapes from the stems, pour on water to nearly 
cover them, and cook until the skins split open; 
then put them through a sieve and strain the juico 
through a flannel bag. Put a piut of juiee to a 
pound of sugar, aud boil for fifteen minutes. 
Silver Cake.— The whites of eight eggs, 1 
cupful of butter, 2 of sugar, 3 of flour, }4 of 
sweet milk, 1 tcaspoonful of cream of tartar, % 
teaspoonful of soda; mix all together, and bake in 
a moderately heated oven until of a light brown. 
