The best method of packing is to obtain from a dealer cylinders of the proper size of corrugated card board which are made for this pur pose. Also a supply of the same cardboard to place between the lay ers of jars. If your annual output is large enough, suitable cases to hold a quarter gross or half gross of jars can be made at home, or for a trifle by a local carpenter. This will be returned by the purchaser on request. Or the j ars may be packed in stout packing cases or barrels and sur rounded with excelsior, straw, or hay. An excellent method is to place be tween two sheets of thin manilla pa per a layer of excelsior and stitch or quilt the whole together at intervals with long stitches such as are used in basting. The whole may then be cut with shears to proper lengths, be tween the rows of basting, in which to wrap up the separate jars, the box or barrel can be lined with it, and one or more thicknesses of the same can be placed between the dif ferent layers of jars. In addition excelsior should be crowded between the jars so that no two j ars come in contact with one another at any point.
If packing cases are used, the ex celsior must be crowded in at the top, so that the contents cannot move, and the lids securely nailed on. It is easy to ascertain by shaking it vigorously whether the case has been packed solidly. If there is any rattling heard, the case should be repacked.
If barrels are used it is sufficient to take off the top hoop and cover the top with a piece of canvas or bur lap. Replace the hoop over the cloth and put on the top a stout label marked " Glass, This Side Up With Care." Better care is frequently given a package thus left without a head than to a sealed box or barrel. Place even dozens in each package, and be sure to make an accurate count. Have a printed billhead and promptly notify the consignee of the time of shipment by mailing the bill with a courteous note.
To Fix a Price on Canned Goods. —Keep account of all time taken in picking, preserving, or packing fruit and figure out what it would cost you to hire the work done by ordi nary day labor. Usually ten or fif teen cents an hour is a fair figure.
Add to this the cost of fruit and su gar actually consumed, jars and all accessories, including packing, mate rial, labor, etc., and when you have thus arrived at the actual cost in cluding labor, double this amount to allow yourself 100 per cent profit. If at first you are unable to sell your goods at this price or better, it is probably because you are inexperi enced. Either you are not taking ad vantage of the work, or others are taking advantage of you in the price you are paying for labor or material. But 100 per cent profit is the ideal you should have in view, and some persons making homemade canned goods realize two or three times as much on their investment.
Storing Preserves.—Canned fruits and preserves should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place. The cellar is not the best place unless it is dry and well ventilated. A storeroom parti tioned off from the cellar and built of concrete is an ideal apartment for this purpose. In houses that are heated, a dark, airy closet in the up per part of the house is a good place. But of course, preserves must not be placed where they will freeze in cold weather. If it is necessary to store them in an ordinary cellar to prevent freezing a swinging shelf should be constructed for this purpose. The jars should be allowed to become stone cold before being stored away, and they will keep much better if carefully wrapped in dark-colored paper folded and pasted top and bot tom, and labeled on the outside so that it will not be necessary to dis turb the wrappers until they are re quired for use.