El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-10-11

" LI l
As q flnal drive ON fruit preserving the
United Statss department OF agriculture
urges the making of homemade fruit buffers.
This is recommended not only to those who
grow the frtit but to those IN the city Who
may take advantage Of large supplies and
cheap prices. In a great many cases 1t VIII
be possible for city people to set from ont.
lying farms fruit which might otherwise be
wasted. Hs
Various fruit buffers recommended are
apple butter with cider, apple butter with.
out cider, apple butter with grape juice.
apple butter with lemons, pear butter, peach
butter, plum butter, and Garfield butter
made with plums and peaches. With the
exception Of q good preserving kettle very
littie equipment ID needed for the prepare
ton Of such buffers.
Apple Buttet,
There IL no better way to use good apples,
says the department, than to make them
INTO butter. The sound portions of wind
falls, wor1ay, and bruised apples may also
be ,sed. The better the apples the better
the butter will be. In apple butter with
cider either fresh sweet cider or conlmer-
ciai sterilized cider should be used. after
being boiled down to about half it's original
quantity. The peeled and sliced apples may
be cooked in the boiled cider, or they may
be first made into apple sauce. which is then
cooked IN cider. Il usually takes about
equal quantities Of sweet cider and sliced
apples to make butter OF the right consist
ency. In other words, two gallons OF sweet
cider should be boiled down to one gallon.
and two gallons Of the prepared apples
should be added to 1t either uncooked Of as
apple sauce. The two essentials Of good
apple butter are long, slow cooking-from
four to six hours-and frequent stirring. If
sugar is used, it should be added after the
cooking is about two-thirds done. About
one pound Of sugar Is the usual proportion
for each gallon of apple butter. but more
or less may be usedrto suit the taste. The
butter may be spiced with cinnamon, cloves
and all-spice, or with any one OF the three,
the spices being stirred in when the cooking
is finished.
While still boiling hot the butter should
be packed in sterilized glass receptacles. or
in stone jars, with thorough precautions
against spelling as with any other preserves.
Good apple butter may be made without
cider. In this case enough water is added
to make a thin apple sauce. Brown sugar
rather than white sugar is ordinarily used.
II q grape flavor is desired, it may be OBJ.
tanned by the use of grape juice in the pro-
portion OF l pound to each gallon of the
peeled n sliced apple. There should also
be added a cup of brown sugar and one.
fourth teaspoonful salt. When the desired
thickness is obtained one teaspoonful Gin
nanon is stirred in
Pear and Peach Butter
Pear butter is made like apple butter
without the cider.
In making peach butter it Is desirable to
put the peaches into a wire basket and dip
them in boiling water for a few seconds until
the skin slips; then dip the peaches into
cold water, peel them, and pit them. Well
ripened free-stone peaches are best. They
should be mashed and cooked in their own
juice without adding water, and If butter of
a fine texture is wanted the pulp should
be put through a colander or coarse wire
sieve. To each measure OF pulp add a half
measure of sugar. Peach butter can be
made also from dried or canned peaches.
1Shho JuASO III ChO piopoit " VI IA tCulOu
to Is pounds of peaches may be added to
give tartness.
Plum Butter
Plum butter is made like peach butter,
except that the skins and pits are separated
by rubbing the pulp through a colander or
wire sieve after the plums nave been cook.
ed. Free-stone pluns, however, may be
treated exactly like peaches.
The Garfield butter is made of twothirds
plums and oneethird peaches and needs
rather more sugar than the plain peach
butter.
Farmers Bulletin 900, Homemade Fruit
Buffers" which contains detailed directions
for making various fruit buffers, may bo
obtained free from the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, Washington, D c.,
as long as the supply lasts.