182 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
wax, others with. India rubber and cast iron; in 
some the tops are screwed on; in others, wedged ; 
and in others wired. Some tin, some glass, and 
some stone, but all are “perfect,” if the claims of 
the inventors and manufacturers are fully credited. 
We have tried most of these fruit jars, and while 
many of them are good, our experience has led us 
to adopt the cheapest kinds of glass bottles and 
jars. Tin cans are not safe. While in a majority 
of cases they may answer well for a season or two, 
there is always danger of their corrosion, or rust¬ 
ing, and the consequent production of poisonous 
salts of tin. Besides, it is desirable to have the 
fruit in transparent vessels so that it can always be 
examined. Good well-glazed stone-ware bottles and 
jars are not objectionable on account of corrosion, 
but they are opaque, so that the contents can not 
be seen, and are but little cheaper than cheap glass. 
During the past year wejiave kept several bush¬ 
els of fruit of different kinds, always in good con¬ 
dition, and the portion now unused is almost as 
fresh and delicious as when 
first picked. For keeping, 
we have used all sorts of glass 
bottles and jars, holding from 
a pint to two quarts each— 
including several of the patent 
jars with caps of various pat¬ 
terns. Among these were a dozen glass jars with 
India rubber rings expanded by a compressing- 
screw, of which five gave way and the fruit was lost. 
Of the common glass bottle and jars we have not 
lost one.—There is hardly a glass bottle of whatev¬ 
er form that can not be turned to account for pre¬ 
serving fruits—even junk bottles, soda-water bottles, 
jars, etc., etc. The best form is a wide-mouthed 
quart bottle or jar, the neck drawn in to give a 
shoulder for the cork to rest upon. For the larger 
fruits wide necks are needed; for the smaller, 
berry fruits, narrow necks answer perfectly. 
Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 
Preparing the Fruit.— Our method is, to put 
the fruit in a preserving kettle of some kind—a 
glazed iron kettle, or even a tinned one, or a tin- 
pail wili do — and.s weeten it with just sugar enough 
to fit it for the table. The sweetening is added in 
the form of a syrup made by boiling from one to 
three pounds of sugar (usually 2 lbs.) with one 
quart of water. The more juicy fruits, such as 
strawberries, require less syrup, while pears and 
quinces require more. The fruit is heated with the 
syrup just long enough to scald it through. Some 
prefer to use less sweetening and add more when 
the fruit is to be used. Others use no sugar; they 
think the fruit keeps just as well, and preserves its 
aroma better without any sugar. We prefer to use 
all the sugar that is to be needed, believing that the 
fruit will probably keep more certainly, and it is 
then always ready to pour out at once upon the 
table. The fruit to be preserved should be in good 
condition—ripe, but not over-vipe, nor containing 
any decayed portions. Tomatoes are peeled, and 
then cooked down one-half, as this makes a better 
sauce, and requires less bottle room. 
To bottle the Fruit. — The bottles or jars are 
thoroughly cleansed, and each one fitted with a stop¬ 
per. For these, soft corks are best; but they may 
De made of soft dry wood. For each bottle or jar 
we provide a little tin “ patty-pan,” (fig. 1,) costing 
to 1 cent each by the quantity. Tea-saucers will 
answer. For cement we heat together in an old tin 
basin or iron kettle, one pound of rosin, and 1% to 
2 ounces of tallow. This may be mixed in quan¬ 
tity, and melted from time to time as wanted. We 
formerly used a little over 1 ounce of tallow to one 
pound of resin, but further experience is in favor 
of a softer cement, when the fruit is to stand in a 
cool cellar.-While the fruit is being heated as 
above described, the bottles are well warmed by 
setting them near the fire and frequently turning 
them; or better, by setting them in cold water in a 
wash-boiler and heating to the boiling point. The 
fruit being barely scalded through , it is dipped hot 
into the heated bottles, through a funnel if the 
bottle necks are small. This is done carefully, so 
as not to mash the fruit. The bottles are filled up 
to where the bottom of the stoppers will come; 
they are then jarred a little to make the air bubbles 
rise, and more fruit or syrup added if needed. The 
tops and necks are then wiped clean, inside and out 
and the stoppers put in, and sunk to a level with the 
top. The cement being warmed in the mean time, 
a little is dipped on over the stoppers to close them 
tightly. The bottles are then turned necks down 
into the little patty-pans, or saucers, (fig. 2,) and a 
quantity of cement dropped in to completely en¬ 
close the stoppers and necks. When cold the bottles 
may be set either side up, (fig. 2 or fig. 3). The cool- 
ingwill shrink the contents so as to create a strong- 
inward pressure, but the patty-pans prevent the 
stoppers from being pressed in, and the cement 
shuts out air. 
The whole process is simple and quickly perform¬ 
ed. After the fruit is prepared, two persons will 
heat it, and put up 50 to 100 bottles in half a day. 
We prefer quart bottles as these furnish enough for 
once opening. If cork stoppers are used, they are 
rendered soft and pliable, and may he crowded into 
a small orifice, by first soaking them in hot water. 
Substitute for Patty-Pans.— The patty-pans 
are simply circular pieces of tin, stamped in the form, 
of a cup or plate, 2 to 3% inches across. We buy 
them at wholesale for 87 cts., or $1.25 per gross. 
But any kind of cup to hold the wax, will answer. 
We have seen the common blacking boxes used, 
bottom for one jar or bottle, and the top or cover 
for another. Blocks of 
way. through with a large ^i|||||||l||[|||l|[[l|[ll||||||l||l|||||llll|||l||MlM 
augur, answer every pur- 
pose. They should he part- Fl °- 4 - 
ly filled with cement, before turning the bottle 
into them. No one need look far for the materials. 
The old bottles about the house, thoroughly clean¬ 
ed, the tin boxes, or old saucers, or wooden blocks, 
and some rosin are all the apparatus needed. 
ANOTHER METHOD. 
An associate editor of the Agriculturist , who has 
successfully practiced the general method above de¬ 
scribed, recommends a substitute for the stoppers 
and patty pans, which he has used for some years, 
and successfully. Pieces of Canton flannel are dip¬ 
ped in heated grafting wax made by melting togeth¬ 
er 2 parts bees wax, 2 parts rosin, and 1 part tallow. 
After dipping they are laid, cotton side up, upon 
sheets of rather light, white printing paper, on a 
smooth table and additional wax laid on, and the air 
bubbles rubbed out if necessary. The cloth must 
be perfectly saturated with the wax, but a large 
quantity is undesirable. Glass jars are used with a 
so that the waxed cloth may be conveniently 
bound on. They are hot, when filled full, with the 
boiling hot preserves; the prepared cloth is cut into 
convenient squares of generous dimensions; and 
the jars or bottles are jarred a little, repeatedly, to 
force the escape of any air bubbles. The cloth 
caps being slightly warm are laid, wax down, upon 
the mouths, and the hand passed over the rims with 
a firm pressure; then with a stout cord or pack- • 
thread wound round and round, the edges of the 
caps are bound down upon the neck of the bottle 
or jar. As soon as the bottles cool, a depression of 
the cap will indicate that they arc airtight, while 
the least hole will prevent this concavity, and thus 
indicate at once the necessity of repeating the seal¬ 
ing process. Should the fruit ferment an inflation 
of the cap will be noticed, provided the jar is tight. 
Washing Machines. 
The hard work of “ Washing-day ” has led to 
much effort on the part of inventors, to supply some 
kind of labor-saving machines to lessen the toil of the 
house-wife. The amount of ingenuity exercised in 
this particular direction has been so great, that there 
are now in the Patent Office at Washington, more 
than eight hundred models of patented washing ma¬ 
chines, we believe. Yet, notwithstanding their 
great number, and the amount of advertising and 
other efforts to bring these machines before the 
public, in how very few families is there now a 
washing machine in actual use. There are plenty 
of them lying unused in the garrets or outhouses— 
the strongest evidence that, however good in the¬ 
ory, few of these machines stand the practical test. 
We have tried a score of them, yet all but two have 
been thrown aside after a patient effort to make 
them work profitably. The “Metropolitan,” with 
its sixteen spring pestles, working upon a spring 
pole, is almost perfect, at least it does the work well 
without injuring the garments. The “ help ” com¬ 
plain that it is “hard to work ”—but they are “consti¬ 
tutionally ” opposed to all Y ankee machinery, and 
we do not attach much importance to their com¬ 
plaints. The other, the “ Nonpareil Washing Ma¬ 
chine,” we have now had in use for several months 
and it has stood the test of actual trial quite as well 
as any machine we had previously sent home. It 
is somewhat like the old-fashioned “fulling mill,” 
and certainly “ beats out the dirt ” without damage 
to the garments. It is operated by a crank and has 
a heavy balance wheel which equalizes the force so 
as to make it work quite easily. On the whole, 
we are much pleased with it. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Making Double-Curded Cheeses. 
Many farmer’s wives despair of making this great 
luxury, to say the least, because they have not cows 
enough. Some years ago, when we first commenced 
farming, I made very good cheese from six cows, by 
making them “ double-curded.” During the first 
half of June, milk will generally keep sweet, (in a 
cool place), 36 hours, so that two days’ milk can be 
run up into one curd. To keep the curd over, it 
must be well drained off in a cheese basket; a 
coarse linen cloth is the best to wrap around the 
curd, and a board and weight should be laid on top 
to press out the whey, after which it may be hung 
up in the cellar, or in a cool pantry, until wanted. 
While our second curd is getting ready, we have 
our first cut up in small pieces of the size of ker¬ 
nels of corn and soaking in lukewarm water, to 
take out the sourness ; a second water too is gener¬ 
ally necessary. We find by experience that each 
of the two curds had better be scalded by itself, as 
they run together when scalded in one vessel. Af¬ 
ter salting and partial cooling, they can be mixed 
while putting into the hoop without any such re¬ 
sult, and unite just as well, and taste as well, as a 
single curded cheese. Mrs. M. J. S. 
Fairhaven, III. 
A Novel ‘‘ Pumpkin Pie.” 
A NEW-JERSEY BACHELOR KEEPING HOUSE. 
Dear Editors :—I suppose you will not object 
to my talking with the good housewives who read 
the American Agriculturist. As I am a bachelor and 
must necessarily meddle with the household affairs, 
I deem it servicable to study the mysteries of 
housekeeping. Some friends call me “Pot Betsy,” 
and my fair city cousins think me over nice and fussy. 
Of course I don’t care for what they say (?), and 
am very glad this house is comfortable and attractive 
enough to lure my most fastidious city friends to 
come and visit me. Pray, madams, don’t think that 
Fig. 1. 
