A wire basket is a great help in scalding fruit to remove skins. A wire spoon or bright skimmer is needed occasionally. Enamel strainers and col anders are convenient. A wooden masher is best for jam. Fruit -presses, cherry -stoners. and the like are required when large quantities are to be prepared. For accurate results, a thermometer and syrup gage are as essential as any other tools. Never try to fill many jars without a large mouthed tin funnel. Strong linen cheese -cloth strainers and a flannel bag are necessary for jellies. To protect tables from stains and make it easy to clear up afterward, cover with several layers of paper, those on top being clean brown paper.
Jars.
To hold different quantities of fruit and, later, to serve a family of varying size, the jars should be of all sizes, half - pint, pint, quart and two quart. Better pay a few cents more than to get jars with imperfect edge, sure to result in cut fingers, or with blisters of glass inside that will break and mingle with the contents of the jar, or with letters and trade-marks in the way of complete sterilization. The best covers are those of glass held in place by a metal spring fastened about the neck of the jar. When a glass top is fastened in a metal rim it is impossible to keep it perfectly clean.
New rubber rings should be provided each year, though a few of those left over may be usable. Sometimes two rings should be used, they are so thin. Wide-mouthed bottles may be tightly corked and covered with a cement of rosin and beeswax. Bottles are suitable for the fruit syrups, but the self-sealing ones are best. For all purposes, even for jellies, air-tight jars with glass covers have many advantages. Sterilization is as necessary for jelly tumblers as for jars. After jars are filled properly, they should be labeled and dated. Printed labels already gummed may be bought at low rates, so there is no excuse for indistinct or untidy labels.
The closet where filled jars are kept should be light, dry and easy to keep clean. For the first month, watch all jars, and, if there is any indica tion of fermentation, open, scald, and use at once.
Summary.
This is no place for detailed recipes, since those may be found in cook-books and bulletins. The essential points in all canning, jelly-making, pre serving and pickling may be given in few words : The article to be preserved and everything to come in contact with it must be sterilized, and then the air must be kept from it. Constant watchfulness and absolute cleanliness are the only magic arts employed. The housekeeper of today must not for get the traditions and experience of past genera tions, but even in these every-day processes she must apply also the results of the experiments of modern scientists. Though many of these processes have passed out from the home, there is still a place for the homemade preserves' which have a distinct quality and with which no factory goods can compete.
Preserving and preparing mushrooms. (By B. M. Duggar.) In the preservation of mushrooms the processes may be either by drying or canning. By both processes some of the flavor of the mushroom is lost, but, nevertheless, the product is an impor tant article of commerce, and commands a price averaging, perhaps, half that of the fresh mush rooms. A discussion of edible native mushrooms will be found on page 474. Figs. 245-247 show some of the mushrooms to be avoided.
Drying.—The simpler method is by drying, and this is commonly used by the peasantry of Europe for the preservation of such common forms as Boletus edulis (Steinpilz ape), Agaiicus campestris (the common mushroom), and, in addition, several species which are used primarily for soups and stews. The method is, however, applicable to a
large number of fleshy species. The method which is recognized as giving the best results consists in thoroughly cleaning the fungi and then immersing them for a moment in boiling water which is slightly acidulated with vinegar or lemon juice. It is asserted that the acidulation prevents, to some extent, the darkening of the mushrooms, yet the addition of acid is not a universal custom. Taken from the boiling water, the mush rooms, if small, are fre quently strung on threads and hung in the sun or over the stove. Large specimens should be sliced. When dried in quantity, it is unquestion ably desirable to desiccate more promptly by placing the material in a slow oven (a temperature of 90° to 100° C., or 194° to 212° Fahr.) or it may be disposed over wire netting suspended over a stove or oven. When dry they are frequently hung in sacks, or merely as strung, in a dry room where pep pers, dried apples, and other such products are preserved. For commercial purposes, however, they may be imme diately placed in glasses or tins, well closed or sealed. In moist weather much mois ture may be taken up, if exposed, and molding will - v A l m-shr gr •wers will :- • - f vJae in pr3rr t make s= and • f t` r : • .,. - -3 der. an 1.= • f the y 7 .- v .r. he red .. ed e7. y ugh an criinarr gr"nder,- r :s e side ai.e ...emsnd sauces n • acc••rding to =any meth •is winch teen pul..ished. involves ly means of a solntion containing alum and rhsunthiito .f soda. An home method, the fairly well, is this : Peel and w into water, containing for each -n three ounces of sal: and the juice of two ..em ens. Aftiff put into clean pint-jars and, with trine c_nuain.ng per gallon (me to or.,:tc)-- of sai.t and a little T.S.E.T are bronch: gradually to the .
eint and bo .led for about fifteen minutes..
Pre-sere F =tr. an erpen.sive but common is E•inewhat as Clean and peel as d _:.ace ftr a few minutes in cold water. Led: acrd -ith vinegar or lerd.r.-juice. Dry with a cle_an clith.„ and. use ftr each quart of mushrooms three cf hunter.as rna.... teaspoonful of salt. iittlepe7per and the juice cf one lemon. Melt • in a add the mushrooms and ei until nearly dry, shah • sticking. then put into jars and Heat ho-:inc water for ten m n.nee. c _.-se the top. cool gradually and sea,.
Mushroom L-rtele.p is commonly made as follows: Clean. cur into src.c and dispose in layers one h-:f inch thick in an earthen dish, sprinkle with and repeat until the dish is fulL Place in the refrigerator Cr a cool place for at least two days. Then crush and strain the product through a cloth. r..:. the liquid in a porcelain-lined kettle, adding f each quart one-fourth ounce alspice, one-half ounce ginger root, one dozen cloves and several blades of mace. Boil fifteen minutes, strain through flannel into sterile bottles. cork and crp into sealing wax. Or. in the spring. omit the ginger. and add instead, at the time of maceration in refrigerator, to each two pounds of fresh mushrooms about three ounces of fresh walnut husks, finely chopped. Again. gelatine may be added prior to the last b iling, and the product may be used as a jelly, when it is net desired to keep it for a long period of time and to avoid butting.
Pickled mushrooms may be readily prepared, but they are not greatly esteemed.