AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
306 
dren s*on learn the value and beauty of precision 
in their work. 
It is the same with the tablets and staffs and 
rings. These flat designs, following the solid forms, 
lead the way to drawing, which, in the kindergar¬ 
ten, is very elementary, but excellent training for 
young eyes and little fingers. The training of the 
kindergarten meets the common wants of children, 
or is adapted to the harmonious development of 
all children. 
At the same time it affords an opportunity for 
genius of any kind to show itself and get the first 
steps of training. Besides the exercises with the 
gifts mentioned above, there are class exercises and 
games set to music, and it was the design of Froebel 
that each child should have a little garden bed to 
cultivate, for the sake of its religious education 
among other things—more agreeable to some chil¬ 
dren than the catechism! It is claimed that kin¬ 
dergarten training has the most happy effect upon 
a child’s disposition. I am sure it must be so. 
A mother who is relieved from the cares of the 
kitchen and of fashion, may be able to give her 
children a good deal of the kindergarten culture at 
home, but where there are no two pupils of the 
same age, Micre will probably be some friction, and 
no untrained teacher can half do justice to the work. 
One child alone does not make a “ garten,” but it 
needs culture nevertheless. 
Canning’, Pickling’, and Using Fruit. 
BY ESTELLE EDGERTON. 
Pickled Plums. —Last summer plums were very 
plentiful in our neighborhood, and of course a large 
quantity were bottled and pickled. A lady from 
Geneva, N. Y., gave me a recipe for pickling blue 
plums, which she thought a good one, I tried it, 
and we all pronounced it excellent. To 7 pounds of 
jlums allow3 pounds of brown sugar, and a quart of 
good vinegar. Boil the sugar and vinegar together 
with an ounce of cloves and nearly as much cinna¬ 
mon, and pour it boiling hot over the fruit, which, 
of course, has been picked over and all stems and 
partly decayed fruit removed. Cover the jar and 
let it stand 24 hours, or over night. Pour off the 
juice, boil up again, and pour it boiling hot over 
them. Do this again on the next day, and close for 
winter use. They ought to keep perfectly, but if 
they do not, the juice should be drained from them, 
boiled up again, and poured hot over the plums. 
Plums, to Bottle.— Weigh the fruit, and allow 
a half pound of sugar to a pound of plums ; less 
than this quantity for very ripe and sweet Green 
Gage varieties. Pu£ the sugar ia the kettle and 
moisten it well with water. Let it come to a sirup, 
boiling and skimming if brown sugar (which is the 
kind I use); now add the right proportion of plums. 
Let them come to a boil, and then bottle. I like 
them whole, with the juice clear, and to insure this, 
I let them stand on the back of the stove until they 
are heated through, and the juice running before I 
bring them to a boil. I think it is a shame to make 
a strong jam of good, handsome blue plums ; whole, 
they are of a delightful purple color—the jam is 
brown and ugly. I have seen a method in your 
paper where the plums arc put in jars, covered 
closely, and allowed to remain over night in a warm 
oven. It is a very good way. 
Plum Pie. —An English recipe. Take a deep, 
earthen dish. Invert a cup in the center. Place 
plums all around the cup until the dish is heaping 
full, adding what sugar you think best. Make a 
rather plain pastry. Moisten the edge of the dish 
with a little water. Cut a strip of pastry half an 
inch wide, and as thin or thick as you like. Place 
all around the rim. Moisten this pastry with your 
finger dipped in water, or, better, with white of 
egg. Now cover the whole with the remaining 
pastry, trim around, and bake. This pie is delicious, 
eaten cold, with white sugar and cream. In help¬ 
ing guests, do not forget to give a generous por¬ 
tion of the jsice. 
Peaches.—I used to consider the work half done 
when the peaches were peeled, but that is the sim- 
[August, 
plest part of the process now. I believe tkat.uuder 
proper management a bushel of peaches might be 
skinned in five minutes or less, and I have no doubt 
that it is done in well-regulated canning factories. 
A few years since you gave a recipe for skinniug 
peaches with ashes and water. It was excellent, 
but I have discovered that it is not necessary to 
have the ashes themselves (as said the recipe) in the 
kettle—a strong lye is all that is required. Sal-soda 
and water will do the business, but I do not know 
the exact proportion, or if it needs to be exact. 
Make a strong lye of fresh wood ashes, pour off the 
clear lye into a kettle, bring to a boil. Put in as 
many peaches as desired, stir them round gently, 
and when you see any bare places take them out 
and throw them into a pail of cold water; remove 
the skin, and pass them into another vessel of cold 
water, and from thence to the kettle on the stove. 
They should not remain in the boiling lye more 
than twelve or fifteen seconds. I think white peach¬ 
es are the nicest kinds to bottle; they are more del¬ 
icate in color and flavor, but of course I always put 
up a large quantity of yellow varieties. A quarter 
of a pound of good white sugar is sufficient to a 
pound of the fruit; you may use less if you like, or 
even more; but the sugar penetrates the fruit while 
in the bottle, and very much improves the flavor. 
A few of the pits improves the flavor; where bottle 
room is not an object, the stones may be left in. 
It will take ten ordinary-sized peaches to fill a quart 
bottle, if wholo. The same bottle would have held 
fourteen if halved and the stones removed. You will 
need to use a little water. The sugar and water 
should be brought to a sirup, when the peaches 
may be put in, and as soon as they boil well they 
should be bottled and scaled immediately. 
Peach Pie.—I think a peach pie is much better 
made without an under crust, the peaches whole. 
Eaten cold, with sugar and cream, it is delicious. 
Peaches for Tea are much nicer and look bet¬ 
ter when cut up just before going to table. 
Peach Pickle.— Take any quantity of fine peach¬ 
es just before they ripen; stick into each one four 
or five cloves; make a sirup of three pints of vine¬ 
gar and three pounds of brown sugar to every seven 
pounds of peaches; add cinnamon if you like, I 
like them better without. Bring the sirup to a 
boil, and pour hot over them; repeat the process 
for three days or until they are shrunk on the pit. 
After the last scald, they should be well covered 
and put away iu a very cool cellar until cold weath¬ 
er sets in. They Will be ready to use, however, in 
a few days after they are pickled. Pears pickled in 
the same way as the blue plums, are excellent, to 
my thinking. 
Laying down Cucumbers.— The best way to lay 
down cucumbers is to sprinkle salt over and let 
them form their own brine. A board and stone 
should be laid over them, in order to keep them un¬ 
der the brine. If iu three days there is not enough 
brine formed to cover the cucumbers, there is not 
salt enough on them and more should be added. 
They should never be allowed to protrude above 
the brine, as a white mold will form and they will 
soon soften. In cutting the cucumbers from 
the vine, leave a small stem on the pickles. They 
keep) better and appear better on the table. 
Eating Green Corn. 
Last autumn persons who wished to observe 
“ the proprieties,” inquired of us whether it was 
according to good usage to gnaw the corn from the 
cob, or if it should be cut into the plate. Generally, 
though not always, matters of table etiquette are 
founded in common sense. A bird can only be 
properly enjoyed by picking it, hence good usage 
sanctions the use of the fingers in removing the 
flesh from the bones of a bird, while one who 
should take the bone of a beefsteak, or a mutton- 
chop, in his fingers, would be looked upon as ill- 
bred. The only way to get the full satisfaction out 
of green corn is to gnaw it from the cob, and 
though the operation, especially to a foreigner who 
knows not corn, is not an elegant one to witness, 
it is performed at the best-ordered tables. So gen¬ 
erally is it conceded that corn should be eaten from 
the cob, that silversmiths now make silver green- 
corn handles; these are thrust into the large end 
of the cob, and allow it to be held without soiling 
the fingers. It, is rather an awkward matter to cut 
the corn from the ear at table, especially if the 
knives are not sharp. If it is to be eaten iu this 
way, it should be prepared before it is sent to tlse 
table. The operation of eating from the cob is 
much facilitated by drawing a sharp knife length¬ 
wise of eaoh row, in such a manner that the hull 
of each kernel will be split. When this is done, 
the digestible, nutritious contents of the kernels 
will slip out, and the often tough hull be left 
upon the cob. Those whose teeth are sensitive 
or defective will find this a great help. 
-- - -*«!»--► «-- 
Questions about Canning'. 
Canning or bottling fruit is au operation of so 
much importance in the household, that, although 
we have an article upon the subject from a cor- 
respondent, we answer here a letter which will al¬ 
low us to make some explanations that may be of 
interest to many. H. T. Sweeney, Springfield (no 
State), writes as follows : 
“ In the June number of th Agriculturist is 3n 
article on the canning of berries, etc. The writer 
says: ‘ Put the fruit in hot, and seal at once.’ I have 
been informed that canning-houses let the steam and 
hot air escape before sealing. (1) Will you inform 
me if there is any work giving the particulars con¬ 
cerning the canning of meats, fruits, and vege¬ 
tables, as practiced by canning establishments ? (2) 
Will tomatoes put up in glass jars keep as well as 
in tin caus ? My impression is that the action of 
light through the glass impairs the tomcitoes.” (3) 
Reply. (1) This question arises from confounding 
the two terms canning and bottling. We have used 
these terms as meaning the same thing, but, prop¬ 
erly, canning should be applied only to the process 
of putting up fruit in tin cans. Our people first be¬ 
came acquainted with fruit preserved at the facto¬ 
ries in cans, and afterwards, when in domestic oper¬ 
ations glass vessels were used for fruits, they were 
still called canned fruits, though put up in bottles. 
When a word gets into common use, it is very dif¬ 
ficult to change it, though its application, as in 
this ease, may not be precisely accurate. In fac¬ 
tories the fruit is put into the cans, which have the 
covers sealed on; these are then heated in a vat of 
water, or by steam, and the fruit cooked in the 
cans. A small hole is then punched in the tin— 
not so much to let out the steam as to let o'»* 
the air; this hole is then closed by_a drr>r or solder. 
When bottles are used. v ‘ ise is entirely differ¬ 
ent ■ the f'-” J4 nrst cooked, and put hot into the 
butties with its sirup. If the fruit is filled in care¬ 
fully, and the sirup fills all the spaces among the 
fruit, and if the bottle is well filled, there is no 
chance for air and no steam to be let Dff. 
(2) We know of n® treatise on the subject, except 
an old French one, now useless. Factory experience 
would be of but little use in the family, and if one 
wishes to go into canning as a business, he could 
easily obtain a competent foreman by advertising. 
We know of no information upon preserving fruits 
so full as is contained iu the back volumes of the 
Agriculturist. 
(3) We have never see* tomatoes put up in glass 
that kept as well as those in tin. We attribute this 
not to the action of light, for the bottles can be 
kept in a dark place,but to the fact that the ferment¬ 
ing principle is destroyed by the long boiling, with 
the exclusion of air, that is possible in tin vessels 
Heading ofU‘ Mosquitoes.— 1 “ J. A. W.” 
writes : Not having the convenience of a cistern, 
I catch rainwater in barrels. To avoid breeding 
my own mosquitoes, I elevate my barrels so I can 
draw the water from the bottom, then pour upon 
the surface of the water a little thin oil , which soon 
is diffused over the water; and if it has “wigglers”— 
undeveloped mosquitoes—in it, they will die, and no 
more will accumulate while the oil is on the water. 
