The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-09-03
Make
An EXCELLENT
TABLE SYRUP
Valuable Advice Given to. Farm.
ers and Housewives by
Federal Experts.

WASHINGTON, Sept. "a delic-
ious table strip can be made from
watermelons and affords to the farm
er, according to the fruit juice spec
tafsts OF the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture convenient
means Of using the surplus water
melons which otherwise are allowed
to spoil In the field. Such strip has
been made by farmers in small
way In various parts Of the Sout
and the department endeavored to
work out exact methods Of making 1t
as q possible by product from sur
plus melons. This strip can be used
Immediately or can be bottled hot In
sterilized Jars and kept just as is
done in the canning Of fruit. It is
reddish brown in color, very sweet
and well favored and will serve most
iof the purposes for which strip is
used in the home. 1t has been tried
with satisfactory results in making
ginger cake. home made candy and
as sweetening and fiavoring in ice
cream.
As the specialists point out, while
the Juice OF commercial watermelons
such as Tom Watson" contain on an
average only about seven per cent OF
sugar, or less than many other frui.
juices, the ease with which the Juice
can be pressed out partly offsets the
low sugar content. The method de.
scribed below calls only for utensils
found in every household.
Directions Given.
Rannnva tho ntn1x Aoch
from the rind Of sweet, fully ripe mel
ons Crush the flesh with posa.o
masher or by running it through a
meat chopper. Place the crushed pulp
and seed in cloth bags and squeeze
out the juice, which flows out read
lily About flve-sixths of the pulp
Twill squeeze out as Juice. Abou:
thirteen gallons Of the Juice will
make one gallon of strip. This
amount of juice can ordinarily be Sc
cured from, ten watermelons weigh
ing from twenty-five to twenty-five
pounds each.
The Juice is then. boiled down into
strip in an ordinary preserving
Kettle. The Juice boils without mucii
foaming until it begins to thicken,
when the fire should be slackened to
prevent foaming and burning. The
red coloring matter in the Juice coag-
lulates during boiling and part of 1t
rises to the surface where 1t can BIO
removed by skimming. The remain
der oats about In Juice forming red;
particles which gather near the ton.
Toward the last of the boiling thes
strip must be watched constantly. II
the housewife has candy thermom-
eter she should take the sirup from
the fire as soon as 1t reaches tom.
perature OF 220 degrees Fahrenheit.
otherwise she should let It cook until
a small sample on cooling is about as
thick as maple strip.
When the boiling has finished, the
strip can be set aside to cool in COW
cred vessels or can be poured while
hot into and sealed in cans or glass
containers.
Coloring Matter.
Where cider press Is available the
melons can be cut into pieces and ar
ranged on the press SO that .he pres
sure will extract the Juice OF the pulp
before 1t presses the rind. The Juice
of the rind is not so rich in sugar, and
experiments with rind juice alone IN
dictate that 1t is not suitable for t'-up.
II It is desired to make strip free
from red particles. start the strip
boiling and when some OF the coas-
ulated matter has been removed by
skimming, transfer the Juice to .all
glass jars or other tall containers and
allow it to settle and cool for few
hours. This allows the red particles
to settle to the bottom. The upper
part of the Juice can then be poured
of and boiled into strip.
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