148 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
June, 1917 
HOW I CAN MAKE MY GAR- 
DEN PRODUCE FOR 
WINTER USE. 
Miss Blanchard Harper Madison. 
Wis. 
( From 1909 Annual Report) 
Mr. Cranefield has asked me to 
tell you liow I can my garden pro- 
duce for winter use. and I am wil- 
ling to do so in order that the 
pleasure the results of my efforts 
have given to me and my friends 
may also be yours. I need not say 
pleasure only but should lav some 
stress on the profit also as may be 
shown in the one fact that Mrs. 
Geo. N. Knapp whose husband 
was formerly a professor in the 
College of Agriculture, made 
eighty dollars the first year she ac- 
cepted any orders and the second 
year refused further orders when 
those received amounted to three 
hundred dollars. I have more 
than once been offered four dol- 
lars per dozen pints of canned 
peas, and cost of cans extra. 
Any one who has had peas, 
corn, string beans, etc., canned at 
home will not willingly go back to 
factory goods. The flavor is ex- 
actly that of the fresh vegetable, 
and there is absolute certainty 
of purity. 
Please bear in mind that I in no 
way claim to be the originator of 
the following recipes. Some of 
them are taken directly from Mrs. 
Rorer’s New Cook Book and the 
ones for the corn were worked 
out by my friend, Mrs. G. N. 
Knapp. In some cases I have 
changed or adapted a recipe, but 
in all cases, I shall as far as pos- 
sible credit the originator. 
Before giving the recipes, it will 
be necessary to consider a few pre- 
liminary preparations and to men- 
tion several cautionary “dont’s” 
to the unwary housekeeper. The 
preliminary care for canning 
vegetables must begin in the pick- 
ing and handling in the garden, 
and the necessary directions will 
be given with the recipes — but the 
preparations in the kitchen are 
the same for all and can be given 
here. 
This kind of canning is merely 
sterilizing food stored in sealed 
jars, and once the contents have 
been thoroughly sterilized there is 
no liklihood of spoiling for several 
years if the sealing is intact, ex- 
cept under one condition and that 
condition is so important, so un- 
derrated, so generally ignored 
that I can hardly place too great 
a stress upon it — and that is clean 
jars, chemically clean jars. How 
many times do women canning use 
a jar stained by previous contents, 
or a mason jar cover roughened 
and whitened and corroded inside, 
by the fruit acids of last year’s 
canning, how many stop to con- 
sider the possible chemical combi- 
nations and deposits made by the 
action of fruit juices on the 
metal under that innocent looking 
opal disc in the cover of the Mason 
jars. A woman will do every stage 
of the process carefully and well, 
then after all her efforts put on a 
contaminated and corroded cover, 
ignoring the fact that in so doing 
she is merely adding unknown 
lead and zinc salts to her fruits, 
then wonders why they taste queer. 
On that account I prefer to use 
glass topped jars. There are a 
number of different makes on the 
market, as nearly every manufac- 
turer of Mason jars also makes the. 
glass topped. The first cost of the 
latter is more than Masons but 
when balanced by corroded cov- 
ers which must be renewed and 
spoiled cans, it comes out even 
about the second year. Never use 
a jar or cover that is stained. If 
hot soap suds does not remove the 
stain, soak the jar for 24 hours in 
strong solution of washing soda, if 
that fails use commercial hydro- 
chloric acid one part, water two 
parts (can lie used over and over 
again) or try sapolio. bon ami or 
dutch cleanser — and if all these 
fail use the jar for pickles or 
throw it away. 
Never use a rubber ring a sec- 
ond time. Buy the best you can 
get. They should be soft, flexible, 
not too thick, and should not 
stretch in the boiling. 
Never touch or handle the cover 
or rubber on a seeded jar. The 
steamed juices in cooling form a 
delicate cement between the cover 
and rubber, and this, if broken by 
turning or handling is liable to 
start a leak and admit air. Al- 
ways lift a jar by the jar itself, 
never by the cover. Keep your 
jars in a cool, dry, dark place 
after canning. 
Provide the following utensils: 
(1) A boiler or kettle with flat 
bottom and with a close cover. 
The kettle should be deep enough 
to take pint or quart jars and yet 
leave an inch of space above them. 
An ordinary tin wash boiler such 
as is used for clothes is the best 
when a number of jars are to be 
done — but when I have only one 
or two I use a soup kettle. 
(2) Provide a piece of ex- 
panded metal lath, or galvanized 
wire netting having % or 1 inch 
mesh, cut to fit the bottom of the 
boiler. Or have a wooden rack 
made to fit the boiler. Either 
should lie flat. The object is to 
lift the jars from the bottom of the 
boiler to prevent them from bump- 
ing when the water boils hard. 
(3) Plenty of new good rub- 
bers. 
(4) One or two extra jars for 
emergencies. 
Plu 
inti 
II M 
310 ! 
I'ne 
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