7ht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
I  185 
ing,  the  car  is  full  of  boys  and  fern 
baskets  and  the  boys  are  better  pickers 
than  I. 
Farmers  still  complain  of  the  shortage 
of  help,  and  rides  over  Quite  a  territory 
by  members  of  the  family  show  much 
grass  uncut  up  to  August  20.  Our  oldest 
went  to  help  one  farmer  and  stayed  a 
month.  When  he  came  home  I  asked  why 
he  didn’t  write  home.  His  answer  was 
that  when  he  worked  from  4  to  4 :30 
A.  M.,  till  8  P.  M.  or  later,  he  didn’t 
feel 'much  like  writing  and  although  he 
had  a  few  hours  to  himself  Sunday  P.  M., 
he  was  actually  too  tired  to  write  or  even 
to  read.  So  perhaps  other  mothers  who 
occasionally  like  tq  hear  from  their  boys 
will  want  to  know  how  many  hours  work 
a  farmer  expects.  Perhaps  if  farmers 
would  be  as  considerate  of  men  as  of 
horses,  help  would  not  be  so  scarce  and 
the  one  farmer  who  is  unjust  gives  a  bad 
name  to  the  class.  So  he  finished  working 
on  a  farm  for  the  present  and  just  now 
gets  $4  per  day  for  nine  hours  work. 
-MOTHER  BEE. 
Loss  of  Liquid  in  Pressure  Canning 
Information  was  asked  as  to  why  the 
liquid  in  fruit  jars  goes  down  in  canning 
under  steam  pressure.  I  have  eight  years’ 
experience  in  using  an  aluminum  pres¬ 
sure  canner,  and  I  believe  that  the  trouble 
is  caused  either  by  screwing  down  the 
lid  of  the  jar  too  much,  or  having  the 
clamps  on  glass-lid  jars  too  tight,  or  not 
having  enough  water  in  the  bottom  of  the 
canner  to  cover  the  stand,  or  variable 
pressure,  or  too  great  pressure.  At  one 
time  or  another  I  have  had  this  trouble, 
and  have  traced  it  to  one  of  these  sources. 
In  screwing  down  a  jar  lid,  I  turn  it 
just  enough  to  be  able  to  pick  it  up  by 
the  lid  without  having  the  lid  slip  off. 
With  glass-lid  jars,  I  loosen  the  clamps 
if  they  seem  tight,  by  bending  them  on 
the  edge  of  my  kitchen  cabinet.  They 
should  snap  into  place  over  the  lid  with 
ease,  neither  too  tight  nor  too  loose.  Of 
course  I  am  referring  only  to  the  first 
clamp,  as  the  second  is  never  used  until 
the  jar  is  removed  from  the  canner. 
The  water  in  the  canner  should  be  cold 
with  fruit  that  is  packed  cold,  and  hot 
with  fruit  that  is  packed  hot,  and  it 
should  always  cover  the  stand.  That 
means  the  bottoms  of  the  fruit  jars  -will 
be  resting  on  the  water. 
I  try  to  have  as  brisk  a  fire  as  possible 
under  my  canner,  as  my  effort  is  to  run 
the  pressure  up  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
And  right  here  is  one  of  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  discoveries  that  I  made  about  my 
cooker,  and  the  one  above  all  others 
which  was  most  responsible  for  the  lack 
of  liquid  in  my  jars,  and  that  is  too  great 
pressure,  or  too  long-continued  pressure. 
Most  of  us  do  not  make  the  mistake  of 
too  great  pressure  unless  inter-upted  in 
some  way  so  as  not  to  be  able  to  care 
for  the  canning  as  we  should,  but  many 
have  trouble  from  too  long  continued 
pressure,  and  the  principal  reason  for 
this  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  books  on  pressure  canning  give  tables 
which  we  follow,  often  to  our  sorrow-. 
The  first  year  I  canned  under  pressure  I 
lost  half  the  liquid  from  my  fruit  jars.  I 
made  excellent  vinegar  from  what  I  col¬ 
lected  in  the  bottom  of  the  canner,  but 
my  fruit  suffered  in  consequence.  So  I 
began  to  experiment. 
One  authority  I  have,  and  on  whose 
tables  I  am  now  looking,  says  to  sterilize 
blueberries,  currants,  loganberries,  rasp¬ 
berries,  10  minutes  at  5  to  -10  lbs.  pres¬ 
sure;  cherries  the  same;  pears,  eight 
minutes  under  the  same  pressure; 
peaches,  16  minutes ;  plums,  10  minutes  ; 
rhubarb,  15  minutes ;  strawberries,  11 
minutes.  Another  equally  good  authority 
keeps  the  pressure  at  5  lbs.  except  for 
pears  and  plums,  w-hich  go  to  10  lbs. 
And  the  time  varies  all  the  wray  from 
eight  to  15  minutes. 
And  this  was  what  I  did:  I  put  my 
fruit  in  the  cooker,  brought  the  pressure 
up  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  removed 
the  kettle  (that  is,  the  canner)  from  the 
stove  at  once.  By  this  method  I  have 
as  pretty  packs  as  ever  I  did  by  the 
open-kettle  method,  with  no  loss  of 
liquid,  and  have  lost  not  more  than  a 
half  dozen  jars  by  spoiling.  I  lost  two 
jars  of  pears  this  year,  which  I  think 
were  due  to  defective  lids.  I  shall  watch 
this  year,  and  if  I  find  similar  loss,  I 
shall  process  for  three  minutes,  but  no 
more,  for  in  case  of  over-processing  not 
only  is  the  liquid  lost,  but  the  fruit  rises 
in  the  jars,  and  while  it  is  just  as  good 
to  eat,  it  is  not  so  good  to  look  at.  I  can 
hundreds  of  quarts  each  season.  I  want 
to  add  that  the  flavor  of  fruit  canned  by 
this  method  is  the  finest  I  have  ever 
eaten.  Our  peaches,  plums  and  pears,  for 
instance,  taste  as  though  fresh  from  the 
trees. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  run  a  silver  knife 
inside  the  jar  around  the  outside  of  the 
fruit  to  let  the  syrup  sink  down  and  the 
air  bubbles  come  out.  Do  not  fill  the 
jars  any  higher  than  the  bottom  of  the 
neck  of  the  jar,  and  in  case  of  Mason 
'jars,  even  a  little  less  liquid  _  is  _  better. 
One  of  the  sure  ways  to  lose  liquid  is  to 
fill  your  jars  too  full.  It  expands  and 
boils  out  of  the  jar. 
All  that  I  have  said  of  fruit  holds 
good  with  vegetables,  with  the  added 
precaution  of  careful  blanching.  If  your 
vegetables  are  not  dipped  in  boiling  water 
for  from  three  to  12  minutes,  according 
to  the  vegetables,  they  will  not  pack 
closely  enough.  In  the  jar,  when  they 
begin  to  cook,  they  abso  b  the  water  and 
wilt  down,  so  that  the  jar  is  apt  to  be 
only  three-fourths  full.  Thorough  blanch¬ 
ing,  boiling  water  poured  on,  a  knife  run 
around  to  remove  air  bubbles,  the  lid 
screwed  on  loosely,  water  to  cover  the 
stand,  and  the  jar  not  too  full  of  water, 
and  all  should  be  well  unless  one  thing  is 
the  matter. 
This  one  thing  is  important  enough  to 
be  set  by  itself,  because,  without  having 
this  trouble  corrected,  there  can  be  no 
successful  pressure  canning.  Does  youi 
pet-cock  leak  steam,  does  steam  come 
out  of  your  valve,  or  does  steam  come 
out  around  the  lid  of  your  kettle?  If 
there  is  the  slightest  issue  of  steam,  it 
will  always  draw  the  liquid  out  of  your 
jars,  no  matter  what  other  precautions 
you  may  have  taken.  The  steam  leaving 
the  kettle  creates  a  vacuum,  and  the 
juice  rushes  out  of  the  jars  to  fill  that 
vacuum,  and  keeps  on  rushing  as  long  as 
the  steam  escapes. 
Whenever  I  find  steam  escaping  and  I 
cannot  control  it,  I  stop  canning  right 
then,  and  wait  for  the  man  of  the  house 
to  appear.  He  has  a  mechanical  head, 
and  I  have  not.  I  have  tried  plugging  up 
the  steaming  places  with  rags  and 
matches,  but  they  do  not  work,  so  I  have 
sense  enough  to  turn  the  job  of  fixing  the 
deficient  parts  over  to  someone  who  un¬ 
derstands  how  to  do  them.  The  spring 
on  the  pet-cock  may  need  shortening,  the 
valve  may  be  filled  with  grease,  the  lid 
may  not  be  screwed  down  evenly.  But  no 
canning  should  be  attempted  until  the 
trouble  is  overcome. 
ANNIE  PIKE  GREENWOOD. 
Starting  the  Apple  Season 
Lake  Huron  Apple  Sponge. — Boil  two 
cups  of  sugar  in  one  of  water  until  clear, 
then,  add  two  cups  of  thinly  sliced  apples 
and  cook  until  soft.  Soak  a  tablespoon 
of  granulated  gelatin  in  one-half  cup  of 
cold  water,  and  add  to  the  hot  apple 
sauce  with  the  grated  rind  of  a  lemon  and 
the  juice  of  two.  Set  the  mixture  in  a 
cool  place  until  it  thickens,  stirring  oc¬ 
casionally,  then  beat  with  a  wire  spoon 
until  frothy  ;  add  the  whites  of  two  eggs 
beaten  stiff,  and  continue  beating  until 
stiff  enough  to  hold  its  shaps.  Turn  into 
a  mold  and  chill.  Serve  with  a  soft  cus¬ 
tard  made  with  the  yolks  of  eggs. 
Delicious  Apple  Pudding. — Make  a 
pint  of  plain  apple  sauce,  sweeten,  and 
add  one  tablespoon  of  finely  chopped  can¬ 
died  orange  peel,  and  fill  individual  pud¬ 
ding  molds  one-half  full.  Make  a  batter 
with  one-half  cup  of  sugar,  one-fourth 
cup  of  melted  butter,  one  egg,  well  beaten, 
one-half  cup  of  milk,  and  1*4  cups  of 
flour,  with  three  teaspoons  of  baking  pow¬ 
der  and  one-half  teaspoon  of  salt  sifted 
through  it.  Put  a  large  spoon  of  the  bat¬ 
ter  above  the  apples,  or  fill  the  cups  two- 
thirds  full,  put  over  boiling  water,  cover 
closely,  and  steam  20  minutes.  Serve 
unmolded,  upside  down,  with  whipped  or 
plain  sweetened  cream. 
Green  Mountain  Pie. — Select  five  per¬ 
fectly  sound  medium-sized  Baldwins, 
pare,  quarter  and  core  them,  then  cut 
into  eighths,  put  into  a  covered  earthen 
baking  dish,  add  sugar  and  water  the 
same  as  for  old-fashioned  baked  apple 
sauce,  and  bake  three  hours.  While  cool¬ 
ing,  line  a  deep  pieplate  with  a  rich  un¬ 
der  crust  and  bake  the  same  as  for  lemon 
meringue,  fill  the  crust  with  the  apDle 
sauce,  cover  with  a  thin  upper  crust,  re¬ 
turn  to  the  oven  and  bake  until  a  deli¬ 
cate  brown.  Serve  with  a  slight  sprinkle 
of  grated  American  cheese  over  the  top. 
Apple  Layer  Cake. — Cream  one  cup  of 
fine  granulated  sugar  with  one  tablespoon 
of  butter,  add  one  well-beaten  egg,  two- 
thirds  of  a  cup  of  milk,  two  cups  of  flour, 
with  three  teaspoons  of  baking  powder 
and  a  little  salt,  sifted  with  it,  and  one 
tablespoon  of  lemon  juice.  Bake  in  two 
layers.  For  the  filling,  grate  two  medium¬ 
sized  apples,  add  the  grated  rind  and  juice 
of  half  a  lemon  and  one  cup  of  sugar. 
Put  in  the  double  boiler,  and  when  boiling 
hot  stir  in  one  well-beaten  egg,  cook  un¬ 
til  the  mixture  thickens,  then  remove 
from  the  fire  and  beat  in  one  small  table¬ 
spoon  of  butter.  Cool  and  spread  be¬ 
tween  the  layers  of  cake.  Ice  the  top  or 
dust  thickly  with  powdered  sugar. 
Apple  Fruit  Cake. — Mix  and  sift  2% 
cups  of  flour  with  one-half  teaspoon  of 
salt,  one  teaspoon  each  of  cinnamon  and 
cloves,  a  little  mace,  and  one  teaspoon  of 
soda,  then  add  one  cup  of  seedless  raisins. 
In  the  mixing  bowl  put  one  cup  of  molas¬ 
ses,  one  cup  of  hot  unsweetened  apple 
sauce,  and  four  tablespoons  of  melted 
shortening,  mix,  and  add  the  dry  ingredi¬ 
ents.  Beat  thoroughly,  turn  into  a  well- 
oiled  and  rather  shallow  baking  tin,  and 
bake  in  a  moderate  oven  45  minutes. 
ROSAMOND  LAMPMAN. 
Maple  Sugar  and  Fudge 
A  correspondent  lately  asked  about 
sour  maple  sugar.  I  know  of  no  way  of 
restoring  it  to  its  pristine  sweetness,  but 
having  myself  a  small  quantity  on  hand, 
I  do  know  that  it  makes  wonderful  fudge. 
Try  the  following :  One  cup  of  maple 
sugar,  one  cup  of  brown  sugar,  one-half 
cup  of  thin  cream,  four  tablespoons  of 
grated  chocolate  or  cocoa,  one  tablespoon 
of  butter.  Mix  well,  boil  to  the  soft  ball 
degree,  and  allow  it  to  cool  for  five  min¬ 
utes;  then  stir  until  it  thickens  and  pour 
out  quickly  into  buttered  molds  or  plates. 
This  also  makes  a  delicious  icing  for  a 
nut  cake.  I  wish  someone  would  tell  us 
why  maple  sugar  sours,  and  what  we  can 
do  to  prevent  it.  I  prefer  “maple  cream” 
or  fondant  to  the  hard  sugar,  and  it 
usually  keeps  well,  stored  in  glass  jars  in 
my  warm  kitchen  closet,  but  occasionally 
a  jar  “goes  back  on  me.”  It  can  be  used 
in  cooking,  but  the  delicate  maple  flavor 
is  lost.  R.  F.  D. 
You  can  do  them  over  yourself 
with  Muralite.  It  costs  less  than 
two  dollars  for  the  average  room. 
Easy  to  use.  Goes  on  like  paint  but 
looks  soft  and  rich  on  the  walls. 
Never  any  streaky  brush  marks 
when  Muralite  is  used.  Never 
rubs  or  chips  off  the  wall.  One 
coat  covers  solidly  and  makes  a 
permanent,  durable  wall  decora¬ 
tion  and  one  that  is  obtained  for  the 
least  fuss  and  expense.  Comes  in 
Pure  White  and  14  attractive  tints. 
You  can  get  Muralite  from  any 
store  where  paint  is  sold,  but  if 
you  have  difficulty  in  obtaining 
original  Muralite  in  individual  5-lb. 
packages  we  will  supply  you 
direct.  Send  $1.50  for  10  lbs.  of 
Muralite,  enough  to  do  a  large 
room,  stating  color  desired. 
Color  card  free. 
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