The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-15
A CARVER OF WATERMELON
PRESERVES ram the DEBT
h, on 4 SOUTHERN HOME.
Industry = woman Has Deen Pursuing
sRee Ci,ii war Times Tive Methods
% Making Watermelon Preserves
Prizes Nav aud Nhrn She nrgnn.

serves a noNluttl WuNANt " Nh ~ Nfil
past threcscore years OF age. cGuhded To
a friend I began soon after the civil
war 10 make and sell preserve.
You zee our country home had been
fnOrtEaged and things were going ~
crooked 10 did seem that unless almost
a miracle happened we must lose b. There
was 10 little money and 30 few ways for
a woman 10 earn money In those days
My two daughters and used 10 sew
make any aud all sorts of garments. and
mostly for tho negroes. our friends like
ourselves. were too poor 90 put out their
sewing We pad the negroes Tor doing
our cooking and houseWork and they In
turn paid us for making their clothes
Though a Northerner the purchaser
of my first preserves won my heart al once
by insisting that my labor IN making the
preserves had a money value. You see
before that for tho preserves | sold had
set q price intended merely to cover the
cost Of the sugar. with an additional half
dollar a gallon to cover the cost Of the
melons. That first real customer told me
that my preserves were worth az least
g q gallon. and I thought ! had struck
a gold mine. Now | receive s. a gallon for
all ] can make and am sure | could sell
twice a. much Il cared to take new
customers.
Some Of my customers have been order
ing every season for more than twenty
years Some Of them order one gallon.
others take ~ much ~ five
You have no idea how the facilities
iOf shipping have improved ia tho last
thirty years. Why. when shipped my
hrtt lot of preserves I had 90 crystalline
10 rind, which was then packed in Tin
boxes. and ship the sirip in bottles
% their arrival the preserved rnd had
10 BE- put into a jar and the bottled zirur
poured over H.
That was the beginning 81 my Second
variety 81 preserves. Before thai time
! bad only made the usual preserves with
sigup. hut having 10 crystsillize 10 for
shipment several Of my customer found
tlat they liked il a. much or even better
without thu sirup. One Of them orders
two gallons Of crystallized and one gallon
n preserved each snason
rShe nses the crystalhzed rand iti=t
a. you would citron. and assures me
that she hikes Il much hetter That
was one Of our makeshifts in the first
glad enough 10 stew the ripe melon down
% got a sort Of strip We hadn't the
sugar % crystallizethe rind
The Womans Exchange was a great
beueht 10 mo Tor several vears; indeed
! would not be- making the money I am
to-day on my preserves Il 10 had not
heeu for the exchange Having pre- .
serves there tourists from the North T.
and other sections u the country got .
% know about me and len one year had I
twenty new customers, all raging s. a /
Gailon
Advertising was not the only wav the .
exchange benefited the woman With
nome manufactured goods to SELL Fix
ing thu prinss ON a more generous scale.
what ] now hear spoken OF a. living
wagc. was an even greater help. Why. I /.
know women who had been making cake, /.
and selling them al a profit Of Jess than %
cents each. and they thought they were
doing we'll The only cause Tor com
plant was that they coudnt gpt orders
enough The work was thrown iu for
nothing.
Now those women make ~ cents
profit on cakes of tho sam" size contain
ing ess butter and fewer eggs our 1Id
fecipes were wastefuiIy expensive. =p
AN told. though ! have never hs,n able
10 mako my melon rnd preserves taste
the same by using a gram jess than
pound and a half ~ sugar Co a pound uf
rind 4
The rind ~ any melon suited Tor
shipping makes good preserves ~
that il necessary b. 20 have DO thick anil
firm. The rind should bs carved Will.
II he fresh never allowed to wlfher or boz
come soddcn from standing
AN the red meat and the tough outer
bark mist b. cat N Tho carving Is
generally d0ue on tho outer side though
eprfe ~ my customers like o. carved IN
both sides Though ! consider Tins quite
usalcss either Tor taste or neaTfv they an.
willing 20 give tho extra money ard !. ~ \
course am willing io do g. u 10 the buyer
aim IN pleas not nv own taste. Ii
when ] first began which was tho year
before my marriage and two YEAR hofure
the beginning " the civil war ! u-s.d only
sharp pocket knivp1 90 various sips
Nov I have several curved knives which
were made especially ~ order and several
si1es % tan tuhes with one end -harIaued
Tor usa when | wish O. carve clusters II
Rrapas These arr much quicker than
carving earh grape With % knife.
nc ! have a iavurtD de- IN 10 is hat
call my -iHgle cluster. u Is a single
minch II grapes with tSo leaves and
stein. OF CDuTss o." carving has 60 be-
done on a single piece ~ rind and SONS. 4
persons prefer the same design carved
on both sides cutting ont all signs ~ the ,
surplus mud between.
The largest piece ! make b. a ha-Set
filled With fruit The basket il the low
Old fashioned tyne with "a high handle
or course the fruit which comes above the
edge 81 the hs-ket has tu be quite small
hut ] cut 10 ~ that 90 b. recognizable
Such baskets we're made u wicker. ~ 81
course ! carve the WICKER.
After the carving ID finished each
piece D. carefully laid Iu receptacle.
sufficiently rJUmy o. allow 0f 10 not being {
broken. and "a strong solution - alum
water poured over It. This should remain
on q Tor about fWpufy-tIur hours @
usually cure the nud one d8y. boo the after q
nom v hen po--ihlr. and Dot 20 stay In alum o
water over night The next morning the d
alum water r. carefully drained az and the d
vessel filled with fresh cold water An
hOiir later this i drained % and the pre- ,
serving begins.
To do the actual preserving make "a 7
syrup by mixing a pint % boiling water
with = pound and half u sugar That
b. enough iur one pound ~ r.ud This
syrup should be allowed tp boil hard Tor
"a few minutes and the scum that will ris.
on TOP even when the purr-t sugar b. used
must Do carefully skinned o. n should ID
hal In az ~ #