Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-08-23
Fruit Preserving.

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Agriculturist furnishes the following timely
recipes
PLuMs TO BOTTLE Weigh the fruit and
allow half pound Of sugar 10 a pound Of
plums; less than this quantity for very ripe
and sweet Green Gage varieties. Put the
sugar in the kettle and moisten it well with
water. Let il come to syrup, boiling aud
skimming if brown sugar which is the kind
| usel now add the right proportion Of
pums. Let them come to boil and then
bottle. | like them whole, with the juice
clear and to insure this, let them stand on
the back Of the stove until they are heated
through and the juice running before br.o.
them to boil. think it is shame TO make
strong Jam of good, handsome blue plums
whole, they are delightful purple color-the
jam is brown and ugly. have seen a method
in your paper where the plums are put in jars,
covered closely, and allowed to remain over
night in a warm oven. II is a very good
way.
PfAcHrs--l used to consider the work
half done when the peaches were peeled, but
that is the simplest part Of the process now.
! believe that under proper management
bushel Of peaches might be skinned in FIVE
minutes or less, and have no doubt that it
is done in well.rcgulated canning factories.
few years since you gave a recipe for skin
ming peaches with ashes and water. Ii was
excellent but | have discovered that il 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 | do not know the exact
proportion, or if il needs to be exact Make
a strong lye Of fresh wood ashes, pour of the
clear lye into kettle, and bring to 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
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 I've more
than twelve or fifteen seconds. think white
peaches are the incest kind to bottle they
are more delicate in color and aavor,-but Of
course | always put up large quantity Of
yellow varieties. \ quarter of pound of
good white sugar is sufficient to 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. \ few of the pits improve the
flavor; where bottle room is not an object,
the stones may be left in 1t will take ten
ordinary sized peaches to fill quart bottle, if
whole The same bottle would have held
fourteen if halyed and the stones removed.
, \ ou will need to use q little water. The SUI
gar and water should be brought to syrup,
when the peaches may be put in, and as soon
as they boil well they should be bottled and
sealed Immediately.
/ Peach PEI think a peach pie is much
better made without an under crust the
peaches whole, Eaten cold, with sugar and
cream, it is delicious
Laying dorm Cucnm5ers. The best way
to lay down cubumbers is to sprinkle salt over
aud let them form their own brine. A board
and stone should be laid over them, in order
TO keep them under the brine. If in three
days there is not enough brine formed to
cover the cucumbcrs, there is not salt enough
on them aud 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 small stem on the
pickles. They keep better and appear better
on the table.
Canning or BotliRg. These terms are
use as meaning the same thing, but, properly,
canning should be applied only to the process
of putting up fruit in tin cans. Our people
first became acquainted with fruit preserved
at the factories in cans, and afterwards, when
in domestic operations glass vessels we're used
for fruits, they were still called canned fruits,
/ though put in bottles. When word gets
into common use, it is very difficult to change
it, though its application, as in this case
may not be precisely accurate. In factories
the fruit is put into the cans, which have
the covers sealed on; these are then heated
in vat of water or by steam, and the fruit
cooked in the cans 4 small hole is then
punched in the tin--not so much to let out the
steam as to let out the air this hole is then
closed by drop Of solder When bottles
are used, the case is entirely different the
fruit is first cooked, and put hot into the bot
ties with its syrup. If the fruit is filled il
| carefully, aud the syrup fills all the space.
among the fruit, and if the bottle is well fill
, cd there is no chance for air and no steam to
a be let off