14G 
July, 1889. 
Prenervliig. 
From strawberry time on, throughout 
the summer and early autumn, the thrifty 
housekeeper sees few days when there is 
not some fruit to he preserved. Oftentimes 
the hottest days must he spent in this 
work, even though the house he full of 
company, for the fruit must he attended to 
then or lost. 
Before beginning to preserve, be sure 
that your table is well-supplied with fresh 
fruit. Perhaps none of our readers need 
this caution, but it was once the writer’s 
lot to visit in a family where twenty quarts 
of strawberries were canned and not one 
appeared on the table. Canned peaches 
were served at supper! There may be a 
few people with whom fresh fruit does not 
agree; but for the majority it is agreeable 
and wholesome. Then does it not seem 
absurd to spend time and strength preserv- 
ing fruit which the family need at once? 
To eat canned strawberries in September, 
while one is busy preserving peaches for 
next year's strawberry time, seems a waste 
of effort. If the family really prefer to 
have cooked fruit, why not cook each fruit 
in its season, and avoid so far as possible 
the inevitable labor connected with air- 
tight cans. We have used the word preserv- 
ing in the general sense of saving from 
decay. The commonest methods at pre- 
sent seem to be jelly-making, canning and 
pickling: but there are other attractive 
ways in which fruit may be kept for the 
winter table. 
Jam is not as generally made as it should 
be. for all kinds of berries may thus be 
easily preserved. The English are far more 
fond of jam than Americans, and use it 
constantly on their tables, considering it 
very wholesome. In this country, compar- 
atively few housekeepers make it. We 
find the English label on most of the jams 
sold in our markets yet it would seem very 
easy to supply the demand with the home 
product. Why do not more of our Amer- 
ican women who are obliged to earn money 
at home, make a business of preserving? 
Fine home-made jellies, canned fruit, 
pickles, jams,— indeed nice preserves of 
almost any kind, are always in demand at 
good rates. To be sure there is some hard 
work about it. but that is true of almost 
any thing that yields good results, and it is 
a more wholesome occupation than sewing. 
Jelly. 
In many homes, currant jelly is the only 
kind ever seen: but black and red rasp- 
berries make delicious jelly with less trou- 
ble. while crab-apples and quinces readily 
assume the gelatinous form. 
It is of prime importance in jelly-making 
that the fruit should not be “dead-ripe”. A 
neglect in this particular has caused many 
a failure: and even when it is not wholly 
unsuccessful, the color and quality of the 
jelly is never so fine as with less ripe fruit. 
Red and white currants are so exceed- 
ingly pretty together, that the young house- 
keeper is tempted to repeat the contrast in 
jelly. The result, however, will not be 
what she anticipates: as jelly made from 
white currants alone is unattractive in color 
and inferior in flavor. A most beautiful 
color is obtained by using the white cur- 
rants with the red. Directions are frequ- 
ently given to boil the syrup twenty min- 
utes or longer after adding the sugar. This 
is wholly unnecessary and injures both 
color and flavor. The following is an un- 
failing receipt. 
Pick the currants just before they are 
throughly ripe. Look them over carefully, 
without stemming, place in a porcelain 
kettle and mash thoroughly. Boil slowly 
twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Strain 
through a jelly-bag and allow one pound of 
sugar to every pint of juice. Let the juice 
boil twentv minutes, then slowly stir in the 
sugar, stirring till wholly dissolved. Boil 
two or three minutes, then pour into jelly 
glasses. This makes a clear and beautiful 
jelly so firm as to retain its form perfectly 
when removed from the glass. The tin or 
glass tops should not be put on for forty 
eight hours, and the jelly should be covered 
with brandied paper. 
Canned Fruit. 
With glass jars having perfectly fitting 
tops, there is no excuse for any failure in 
canning fruit. The only way to be sure of 
the cans is to test each one just before 
using. Occasionally a top fails to screw 
tightly, even though the rubbers fit per- 
fectly. This is especially true of pint jars, 
and all rubbers are liable to stretch or wrap, 
so that care must be taken each time they 
are used. 
The amount of sugar used is always a 
matter of taste, but whatever the propor- 
tion decided upon, a clear syrup should be 
made by dissolving the sugar with water. 
The quantity of water must vary, as juicy 
fruits require less than those comparatively 
dry. Place the fruit carefully in the boil- 
ing syrup and let it remain only until soft. 
Then remove, without breaking, place in 
glass jars (which have been rolled in hot 
water) and pour the boiling syrup over 
them. Have the jar so full that it begins to 
run over, then seal at once, screwing tight. 
When cold, screw again, as a slight con- 
traction will have taken place. 
Spiced or Pickled Fruit. 
Pears and peaches are commonly used 
for sweet pickles, but many housekeepers 
seem not to know that cherries, currants 
and berries are nice prepared in the same 
way. They should be served with meats 
and are almost universally liked. A good 
rule for spicing is: six pounds of fruit, four 
of sugar, a pint of vinegar, two tablespoons 
ground cloves, and two of cinnamon. Boil 
until the consistency of thick cream. 
Jam. 
Three quarters of a pound of sugar to a 
pound of fruit, mash thoroughly and boil 
until quite thick. Strawberries and red 
raspl>erries are especially nice for jam. 
Housekeepers need to rememberThat with 
three hundred and sixty five flays in a year, 
there is little danger of having too great a 
variety of preserves, and oftentimes a din- 
ner is saved from being commonplace by 
the presence of an attractive jelly or a dish 
of appetizing spiced fruit. — M. C. Rankin. 
mosquitoes, Avaunt! 
When modern science and industry ar- 
rive at the point of utilizing or destro> ing 
all vegetable matter before it decays around 
our dwellings; when they drain the swamps 
and provide us with pure water, mosqui- 
toes will retire from the scene because they 
will no longer be needed as a part of Na- 
ture’s scavenger brigade. But until that 
millenium arrives what can we do? We 
can put wire screens at our windows, and 
gauze canopies over our beds, and oblige 
these missionaries of the gospel of cleanli- 
ness to pipe their message to be “first pure, 
then peaceable,” through bars, without 
giving a thrust to drive home their injunc- 
tions. If any have succeeded in running 
the blockade and entering the house during 
the day or preceding night, they will try to 
get out at nightfall and may all be disposed 
of by striking with the dampened end of a 
towel while buzzing at the windows in 
their attempts to escape. Indoors we may 
conquer them, but when we wish to enjoy 
a pleasant evening on the piazza, they have 
us at their mercy. We may “smudge" 
them with burning insect powder, or 
annoint ourselves with oil of pennyroyal or 
camphor, but these only seem to add fury 
to their attacks. Our only hope is to di- 
minish their congenial haunts, to cleanse the 
drains, remove dense trees or shrubbery 
from close proximity to the house, and 
protect rain-water barrels and cisterns. The 
first water from the roof after a shower 
should not be allowed to run into cisterns 
and tubs; but let it wash the roof and 
cleanse the air through which it falls. The 
rain water tubs can be covered with fine 
wire netting, and if a bag of charcoal is 
hung in them it will keep them sweet with- 
out the aid of the mosquitoes. 
Blackberry Jelly. 
Jelly-making is a much less formidable 
undertaking to the possessor of a good fruit 
press and strainer. There need be no scald- 
ed or stained hands nor tired wrists. Black- 
berries make an unrivalled jelly, and the 
flavor of the uncultivated ones is best. They 
should be under rather than over-ripe. But 
them in a covered stone jar, and set the jar 
in a boiler of cold water, let it come to a 
boil and cook slowly until the berries are 
