our readers have, probably, been 
amazed at the extent of the enterprise 
described in “ A Jar of Jelly.” It begins 
to look very business-like when one buys 
fruit to sell again. Yet this woman has 
conducted her business successfully, and 
wisely. The closing sentence of this 
week's article is a good business maxim. 
Be satisfied with the profits on your own 
labor. 
* 
We expect soon to give an account of 
a work being done among the poor 
children of New York which is designed 
to fit them for good citizenship, and to 
show them the advantages of country 
life as compared with their city sur¬ 
roundings. We think that the plan fol¬ 
lowed in teaching the laws of our coun¬ 
try to these city children might be 
adapted very successfully to the pupils 
of the country schools. With an ambi¬ 
tious teacher’s help, a young republic 
could be organized and carried on so as 
to be at once a pastime and an effective 
educator. 
*- 
The country girl or boy who has a 
horse at his command, need not envy 
the city cousin his bicycle. One who 
has known the pleasure of the compan¬ 
ionship of a horse, will find in the wheel 
only a diversion, not in any sense a 
treasure to compare with a horse. The 
people who have never known horses, 
are the ones who have gone wild over 
bicycling. But it is fortunate that those 
who have never owned and cannot afford 
horses, can have bicycles. May they 
continue to enjoy them. 
CALLED TO BE A COOK. 
T was the year of the World's Pair at 
Chicago, when people were coming 
and going, and having little “ reunions” 
everywhere. “We girls” had met for 
the first time since our schooldays in 
the beloved institution we were wont to 
call “the asylum for state paupers”— 
otherwise the Normal School. Just 
now, we were in the full tide of remi¬ 
niscences that go to make up a good time 
between friends long separated, 
Mellie, who had been, in her girlhood, 
the gay one of the trio, the flame around 
which all the disengaged moths, (and I 
fear some of the engaged ones,) were 
wout to flutter, had, of course, soon mar¬ 
ried. Not finding housework to be 
either agreeable or, in her case, condu¬ 
cive to health, she had settled down to 
regular outside work to help keep the 
pot boiling. A sable Phyllis, who did 
not mind blackening her hands (Mellie 
did) watched said pot boil, and took it 
from the fire when it threatened to run 
over. Our giddy Mellie had, in fact, be¬ 
come a “ new woman ” mainly because 
she could do some things better than 
she could cook or keep house. And 
Fred, her husband, evidently believed 
the epigram that the best thing to do 
with the new woman was to marry her 
and love her. They were really as 
happy as though she were “old.” 
Gertrude was “new,” too, if new means 
having sense and spirit of one’s own, 
and working out one's own ideal of life, 
so far as possible. She came of an aris¬ 
tocratic, but “ reduced ” family, and 
showed her blue blood in every line of 
her sensitive face. Yet circumstances 
had combined to render her intensely 
practical. She had gone to a distant 
State and engaged in teaching. At the 
same time, she had privately pursued 
her studies in the accomplishments, and 
had now come back to us so improved, 
both in mind and in person, that we 
hardly knew her, and with an opinion 
about everything. As she had never been 
noted for suppressing her opinions, she 
now proved a constant source of amuse¬ 
ment to us, and often of practical help 
as well. 
I, Myra, had been obliged by ill health 
to leave school just before being gradu¬ 
ated ; but had, eventually, been per¬ 
suaded by a silver-tongued graduate 
from the same school, to take a school of 
one. My health still remained uncer¬ 
tain. as did also our income, the graduate 
of the silver tongue not being otherwise 
amply endowed with the precious metal, 
and not having yet attracted it in suffi¬ 
cient quantity to make us independent. 
In other words, we were poor. This 
being the case, I had often pondered long 
and earnestly on the question as to what 
I might be able to do should it befall 
me, as it had so many others, to be left, 
by the loss of my husband, without ade¬ 
quate means of support. True, I had 
written an occasional article for the 
press ; but—as the young and freshly 
initiated who have tried it know only 
too well—this, also, was decidedly un¬ 
certain business. And as I intimated, 
many anxious hours had been given to 
the consideration of the question as to 
what a woman with slender strength 
could do in case self-support became a 
necessity. Such hours as have come to 
many another, after it became a neces¬ 
sity. 
After we had discussed all our mutual 
friends of whose movements we still re¬ 
tained any knowledge, it followed, as a 
matter of course, that we should talk 
over some of our numerous pranks and 
escapades while “rooming.” 
“ Oh, Myra, do you remember the night 
that Gertrude was going to show you 
that Mr. Meeks who used to call upon me 
occasionally ; and the folding doors, in¬ 
stead of opening just a crack, opened 
half way without warning, disclosing 
your horrified faces to our astonished 
vision ? ” laughed Mellie. 
“ I think that Gertrude and I should 
remember that, if we forget everything 
else,” was the smiling reply. “ The look 
of amazement on that young man’s face 
was too delightful to be forgotten. But 
I think that we had much the worst of 
it, for you were as cool as need be. No 
doubt we deserved it.” 
“ Oh, and do you remember the time 
the boys inveigled the Chinese student 
into asking Nell Murray to go to an 
entertainment with him, because she 
had declared that she thought it mean 
for the girls to treat him so differently 
from the others ?” asked Gertrude. 
“ Yes, I remember it, and she went, 
too. She was ‘ game,’ and wouldn’t re¬ 
tract what she had said. But wasn’t it 
rich ! The excruciatingly polite note of 
invitation which he addressed to her, 
and his remarks on the way were emi¬ 
nently appropriate, coming from a native 
of the “flowery” kingdom. We slyly 
called Nell Mrs. Chun Lee, for weeks, I 
remember. How shamefully we did be¬ 
have—and what fun it all was. I wish I 
might go to school again,” said Mellie, 
trying to look a little ashamed of her 
pranks, but not succeeding very well. 
“And the afternoon that two of the 
Latin class were accidentally locked into 
the capitol building,” said I. “ Our 
next week’s Society paper had a note in¬ 
quiring if it were anybody’s business if 
the Latin class should go to the summit 
of the capitol to conjugate amo. I 
believe I had a hand in that mischief.” 
“ But the worst of all was the night 
we were locked out on parade,” said 
Mellie, “ with the family away for the 
night, and not a key among us that 
would unlock the door that treacherous 
night-latch had fastened after us as we 
rushed out a moment to see the proces¬ 
sion. What was the ticket that year ? 
Was it Cleveland against Blaine? 
Strange, I can’t remember, when we 
were so interested.” 
“ And do you remember how we 
looked?” she rattled on. “ Bare-headed, 
and without wraps, and in our comfort¬ 
able study dresses. The policeman to 
whom we, in our ignorance, appealed 
for help, looked askance at us, and after 
scaling a ten-foot fence for us in the 
futile hopes that the back door might 
be unlocked, he finally left us to our 
own resources. Was it you, Gertrude, 
who at last courageously broke the 
glass in the area door, and let us in 
about midnight ? ” 
“I believe so; and we went to bed 
with lessons unlearned, sadder and wiser 
girls,” replied Gertrude, looking as 
though she hardly recognized her dig¬ 
nified self in Mellie’s picture of the un¬ 
dignified trio. 
After several more stories of old times, 
the talk drifted idly here and there, and 
finally touched the question of servants. 
Gertrude had made several invidious re¬ 
marks concerning the married state, 
averring that her husband (a myth) never 
quarreled with her ; that he always car¬ 
ried the parasol to suit her ; that he was 
invariably amiable. Her servants were 
never impudent, they never left without 
warning, and so on. myka v. norys. 
(To be continued.) 
A JAR OF JELLY. 
nOW IT IS MADE AND SOLD. 
Part V. 
Pears and Plums. 
E ABS are used only for preserves and 
pickles in two ways. We use only 
Bartletts. They are peeled carefully, cut 
in half, the cores removed, and dropped in 
cold water to prevent coloring. When 
enough have been prepared for a cook¬ 
ing, we drain them, and boil in a pound- 
for-pound syrup. 
Pickles are prepared in the same way, 
and put in a spiced vinegar syrup. Every¬ 
thing is put in the jars while hot, and 
care is taken that they shall not get 
cold before they are sealed. A great 
deal of care is needed that everything 
is properly skimmed before being put in 
the jars. We also pickle some whole. 
They are done the same as pickled 
peaches, only we remove the skins and 
leave on the stems. They look beautiful 
in the jars. 
Of plums, we make preserves, pickles 
and jams. When we can get them, we 
use the large, white varieties for the 
first, and Green Gage and Damson for the 
rest. The white ones are steamed and 
used with heavy syrups. Pricking the 
skin with a needle in a good many places, 
will help to keep them from breaking. 
For jam, we boil them till free from 
the pits, add the sugar, and boil. 
We make no use of grapes for our 
trade, and only for catsup for our own 
use ; we think it the finest catsup we 
ever tried. 
Quinces make preserves and jelly. We 
peel, halve and remove the cores, then 
steam till very tender, put in the boiling 
syrup, and cook till they reach a beauti¬ 
ful, bright red. For jelly, we slice the 
whole quince, skins and all, cover with 
water, and cook till very tender. We 
then press the same as currants, and use 
one pound of sugar to one pint of juice. 
Care should be taken that the fruit is 
not too ripe ; the jelly will be more sure, 
and a handsomer color. The appearance 
of an article is what makes for it a sure 
sale. An attractive jar of fruit will be 
purchased much sooner than its un¬ 
comely neighbor, though its quality 
might be greatly inferior. For marma¬ 
lade, we slice the quinces without peel¬ 
ing, and boil till they are very soft; put 
through a colander, add sugar the same 
as for jelly, and boil thoroughly a long 
time. It requires constant stirring. 
The ripe cucumbers and cantaloupes 
for pickles are next. They are peeled 
and cut in long, narrow strips, and put 
in quite strong salt water over night, 
then drained thoroughly and cooked in 
a spiced vinegar syrup. They require 
considerable cooking. English mustard 
pickle or chow chow, requires the vegeta¬ 
bles cut up in small pieces, laid in salt 
water over night and cooked in the 
same the next day till tender. Then 
drain and cover with a mustard paste. 
This covers the ground, so far as the 
articles on our list are concerned. 
Many more might be added to make the 
list still more attractive, but we selected 
these as being likely to be most in 
demand, and we find them quite enough 
to keep us very busy nearly all the sea¬ 
son. We have always maintained that 
the limit of profit was reached when 
one does what he can without paying 
out much for help, and it is surprising 
how much one can accomplish in the 
course of one fruit season. 
MRS. O. P. HOWLAND. 
SOME FLORIDA PRODUCTS. 
HOW THEY ARE UTILIZED. 
N our journey southward, we first 
saw Spanish moss in southern 
Alabama. This lovely, graceful parasite 
grows on a variety of trees, but finds its 
most congenial host in the huge live oaks 
of the South, festooning them so heavily 
as to produce a sort of weeping-willow 
effect. In winter, it is of a silvery-gray 
color, merging into a greenish gray in 
summer, and has tiny, straw-colored 
flowers, hanging yards below some of 
the branches. Swayed by every passing 
breeze, sometimes whirled by stronger 
winds into ropes, it forms one of the 
charms of a Florida landscape. Its pos¬ 
sibilities for decoration are unlimited. 
The teacher in the primary department 
here, lacking curtains in the schoolroom, 
has draped the windows with the moss, 
forming some very odd and pretty lam¬ 
brequins. 
The practical southern housekeeper 
hangs huge quantities of it over the back 
fence, where the bright, fierce sunshine 
will fall on it all day, and the hot rays 
soon dry up every particle of moisture in 
the plant. It then turns a glossy black, 
looking very much like curled hair. It is 
then put in water, thoroughly washed and 
hung on the fence again to dry. After 
being picked over, it is ready to be used 
in filling mattresses, etc. Many tons of 
it are prepared every year, and shipped 
north to be mixed with the genuine 
curled hair. In the winter when the 
wire grass is tough, and lacks nutriment, 
cews and horses eat the moss when it 
haDgs where they can reach it. 
There are 10 feather beds in the South 
to one in the North. Every farm has 
its flocks of geese ; particularly in Ten¬ 
nessee and Kentucky, and the numerous 
beds in each house look high, light and 
fluffy, just as our grandmothers’ did 
years ago. In the extreme South, cooler 
materials than feathers are found, the 
three substitutes most in use being 
Spanish moss, corn husks and palmetto 
leaves. 
Sawtooth palmetto, alone, is a mine 
of wealth to Florida. It grows all over 
the State, and struggles with the wire 
grass for possession of the soil. The 
average height of the plant is about two 
feet, being a cluster of leaves the size 
and appearance of a palm-leaf fan, each 
sharp-pointed rib being separate nearly 
to the stem. On good, rich soil, these 
grow as tall as a person, the stem then 
being three or four feet long. The 
natives often tie a bunch of these largest 
leaves together for a broom, the long 
stems forming the handle. A northern 
woman would have hysterics trying to 
keep the house clean with one of these 
funny little brooms. The roots of the 
palmetto are from one to six inches in 
diameter. From the larger ones, are 
made hair brushes, flesh brushes, scrub¬ 
bing brushes, etc. The berries of the 
plant are dried and sold to druggists. 
