The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-16
MRS. cRA1a's LUCK.
She Is Carving . Fortune From
Watermelon Kinds.

| watermelon RindS.
| Mrs. Martha Craig cleared 1890 last
summer by making melon rind and orange
preserves-so she told Lafayette McLaws.
"Of course" she explained, my pre-
serves are not the plain kind OF either va
rieties. 1t is for the carving that I re-
celve the fancy price. I had made them
all my married life and my mother before
me, tn. only for our own use. When my
husband died four years ago and left me
with our six children to raise and educate
had no profession.
My mother had always taken great
pride In her preserve making, and I called
to mind all her old methods and deter
mined to put them into practice. With
tho ounces, wild crabs, and muscadines
was very. very careful, but when it came
to the melon rind and orange l made UP
my mind that they should not only be
beautifully clear and tasty, but should all
be as well carved as mine or my mothers
best had ever been.
81 selected all sorts Of fancy designs
and wen; to work with my penknife. The
result was all that could have wished.
my work was good and met with the ap-
probation that 1t deserved. My
friends were delighted and told of
my work on all sides. Their recOmmen-
dations came too late for me to accept
orders for that year, but had booked a
good number when the next spring came,
and some Of them were from wealthy
Northern and Western families. Most of
the orders were for melon rind and orange
preserves, and in each case was asked
to give them as good carving as the
pieces they had seen in the homes OF the
two women who had given me my first
orders. l did my best. you may be sure,
for I saw in such a business an educa-
ton for my children, besides support for
myself. To get new designs for carving 1
sent for all the good embroidery designs
that heard Of or saw advertised in the
papers. Scanned magazines, old and new,
for pictures asd outlines that could re-
produce on melon rind and oranges. /
made some beautiful pieces that year and
the next season received SO many orders
for those two kinds of preserves that
could not take orders for peaches. figs
and the more easily preserved fruits.
All such orders I turned over to
young neighbor of mine, who is making
good living by 1t. My plan is to select
only the best and thIckest melon rind-
any one knowing the varieties can easily
select them. / cut the flesh away and
then peel off the outside skin. After that
comes the carving which I find neither
difficult nor tedious. 1t must always be
done on the rind while it is fresh. The
rind must not be allowed to wither. After
it is carved it should be soaked in cold
salt and water for twelve or fifteen hours,
then simmer in clear water for say twenty
or thirty minutes. After this simmering
it is put into the hot syrup and preserved.
When finished 1t Is almost perfectly trans
parent and the carving shows distinctly.
For orange preserves only wild
oranges can be used. and they must be
fully grown, but not ripe. They are
carved pretty much as the melon rird.
but must be soaked in salt and water
twice as long. and should be simmered
in two or three waters before putting
in the syrup. This is for the purpose of
extracting some of the bitter taste of
the rind, for as everyone who has ever
tasted the wild orange knows. it is an :
exceedingly bitter fruit. When perfectly
preserved it should be tender. and yet all !
the seeds and the dividing skins Of the |
interior should be distinctly visible.
II receive orders from as far North |
as Maine, and for the next season have !
5000 order for a woman in California. |
AS 1 live in a State where watermelons |
grow in the greatest abundance and |
where the wild orange is to be had for !
only few cents a bushel. the greatest |
expense have Is the sugar and the la
Dor. One is easily obtained. but the 9TH /
er, SO far as the carving is concerned, is |
limited to myself. and for that reason it
would be impossible for me to take or
ders for much more that am now max
ing. But il other women would learn how
to carve and would push the preserves
into the Northern market through the
regular channels, feel sure that they |
would make a good living by 1t, and get
a steady sale"
The old-fashioned way of carving wa
rind for preserving is dying cut
In Maryland.