Wash the fruit, and for one pound of it use half a pound of sugar, and half a pint of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, put in the fruit, and cook three minutes. Dip the plums and syrup together into the jars.
Quinces.
Pare and quarter the fruit, and take out all the cores and the hard place around them. Boil the fruit in clear water until tender; then spread it on towels to dry. For one pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar, and one pint of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, put in the fruit, and let it cook very slowly; or, set it back on the stove so that it hardly cooks at all, and keep it on for an hour or more, if you can without its cooking to pieces--as the longer it cooks, the brighter red color it will be. Put it in jars, and strain the syrup over it, as with other fruits.
Sour Oranges.
Grate off the rind, cut the orange into two parts, and remove the pulp. Weigh the peel, place it in a large stone pot, and cover with brine made of three gallons of water and a quart of salt. Let it stand twenty-four hours, and drain off the brine. Again cover the peel with brine made of the same quantity of water and half as much salt as was first used, and let it stand another day. Drain, cover with clear cold water, and let it stand a third day. Drain again, and put in a boiler and cover with fresh cold water. Let it come to a boil, and boil fifteen minutes; then take out and drain. Make a syrup of three quarts of sugar and one of water, for every six pounds of peel. When the syrup is clear, drop in the peel and boil until it is clear and tender--perhaps four hours of slow boiling. Great care must be taken that it is not scorched. It must be stirred every fifteen minutes. The sugar may be either white or brown. The orange used is not the common orange, but the wild, sour fruit, found in Florida. The pulp may be used for marmalade.
Grapes.
Squeeze the pulp of the grapes out of the skins. Cook fee pulp (a few minutes) until you can press it all through a sieve. Reject the seeds. Add a little water to the skins, and cook until they are quite tender. Then put the skins and pulp together. Measure; and to each pint add a pound of sugar, and boil fifteen minutes.
Apple Ginger.
Four pounds each of apple and sugar. Make a syrup of the sugar, adding a pint of water. Chop the apple very fine--with one ounce of green ginger; or, if you cannot get the green ginger, use white ginger root Put in the syrup with the grated rind of four lemons, and boil slowly for two hours, or until it looks clear.
Raspberry or Strawberry Jam.