Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-08-18
GRANGE DIRECTORY.

Mrs Nettie NJ Rich in Farmers Stock Journal
for July.

Canning Fruits.
Mrs. Nettie NJ Rich, in Farmers Stock Journal
for July.
Since fruit promises to be album
dant this year, we would advise
housckeepers to can large quantities
of it. If it is well put up it will keep
for years. This summer we have
been eating fruit which was canned
three years ago, and think it quite as
nice in every respect as that canned
year ago. When fruit is scarce,
and consequently dear, people think
they must abstain from eating it but
when it is abundant, and consequent.
ly cheap, they seldom think of lay
ing by enough to carry them over
the season Of scarcity. There are
seldom two good years in succession,
hence goodrule is, Gin time ofplen-
ty prepare for time of want"
How much one shall can must be
decided by the number in the family
and their capacity" for fruit. For
family Of three or four, two hun
dred quart cans, six barrels of apples
for winter and spring, and fresh fruits
in their season, will not be too much.
We imagine we see some Of our req
ders holding up their hand in utter
amazement and wonder if a family
would not have to eat all the time to
devour that quantity. In order to
assure them to the contrary, wo can
truthfully say that we know family
of three, living on two meals a day,
who manage to dispose Of about that
quantity and they do not look like
gluttons either. Do they have any
thing else to eat you wonder; well
yes, plenty Of bread, butter, milk,
eggs and vegetables; n very little
meat, very few pies, pudding or
cakes: fruit takes the place of all
these, and although the woman in
the house has to bestir herself during
fruit time, yet through the rest of
the year her cooking is easily done.
What cans are best? Nearly all
the glass cans now in market are
good, so are the tin. Some people
say: "Oh, | can't eat fruit canned in
tin" Well, if they can not, it is be-
cause they do not know how to can
it.
Most Of the canned fruit i'll market
is In tin and some of it is very good,
though not so good as one can pre-
pare herself, for whatever is done
by the wholesale is usually poorly
done. If 4 can is perfectly air tight
it can not by any possible means i'm
part q metallic flavor to the fruit
Some people will open a tin can,
pour out part of the fruit and leave
the rest in; of course, the remaining,
exposed as it is to the action of the
atmosphere, will soon acquire an I'M
pleasant favor. When a can is
opened pour all the fruit out and
keep it either in an earthen or glass
dish until eaten, not in tin. 1lacays
can tomatoes, gOoseberries and straac-
berries IN tin. If tomatoes are can
ned in glass, the action of the light
upon them will form crystals of the
citric acid which makes them so sour
that nothing can sweetcn them; they
will keep nicely and without the least
trouble if canned in tin; so will
strawberries and goosebcrries.-
Cherries are better if put in glass
cans; raspberries, peaches, plums,
huckleberries, blackberries and cur
rants may be put in either, and no
one would know what they were can
ned in unless told.
Now for the process. Cleanse the
cans MoroughW and test them to
ascertain if they leak or are cracked.
If any of the tin cans leak, repair
them or send to the timer for repairs.
If glass cans are defective do not use
them for canning, but keep them for
storing things in the pantry. When
the cans have been cleanscd, put
warm water into them in a dish pan,
just before canning have ready an
other pan of water quite hot and put
in two or three cans that have al
ready been warmed in water, take
out as you are ready to fill with fruit
and stand them on hot platter
while filling them; the platter keeps
the jars from coming in contact with
a cold surface, like the table, and
catches what fruit may drop in fill
ing.
Look over the fruit carefully, and
if it has pits remove them leaving on
ly few to heightcn the flavor; for
a can Of cherries leave in about
dozen pits, for peaches one or two
Use porcelain kettle for cooking
the fruit and only enough sugar to
render it palatable If fruit is made
very sweet it is unhealthy, indigesti-
iblc and expensive; it is the pleasant
natural acid of the fruit which our
systems require and sugar spoils it
all.
Strawberries, place in the kettle
tcacuplul Of water and two of sugar,
let it boil, add three or four quarts of
berries, do not stir them; when the
berries are well scalded, skim out in
to two Jars, let the juice boil briskly
for moment, then fill the jas with
it and seal them securely. If
any juice is left, it will take the place
of water in preparing for the next
two cans. If not enough to fill the
jars, fill one and seal i. and leave
the fruit in the other until second
quality is prepared.
Peaches should be canned by the
same method, but in preparing them
remember if they are quite ripe the
skin can be removed without using
a knife, simply by pouring boiling
water over them, the same as toma-
toes, then cut in halves and remove
the pits. Perhaps more water might
be put in to form the syrup, than
used with strawberries.
Cherries should cook three min
utes, at least and more if the form
is not injured by it. Make a syrup
for them the same as with other
fruits, and observe the same process
Us in canning.
RaSpbarrias Same nc sfrowharriac.