Weigh the berries, and to every pound of fruit allow a quarter-pound of granulated sugar. Put sugar and berries in an earthen jar, and stand for an hour. Turn into a preserving-kettle, add a pinch of alum, and simmer slowly for fifteen minutes. Dip out the superfluous juice. Fill the jars to overflowing with the fruit, and seal immediately.
Canned raspberries (2)
Follow the last recipe in every particular.
Canned gooseberries
Make a syrup with one pound of white sugar to each pound of fruit, stew them till quite clear and until the syrup becomes thick, but do not let them be mashed. Do not cover the pan while stewing.
Canned quinces
Pare, and cut into quarters, dropping into cold water as you do this, to preserve the color. Weigh the fruit and allow three-fourths as much sugar. Cook the quinces gently in boiling water until soft, skim out the fruit, add the sugar to this water, skim well and boil till clear. Return the quinces to the syrup till heated through, drain and put into jars. Boil the syrup ten minutes longer, strain it into the jars, fill to overflowing, and seal as usual.
CANNED VEGETABLES
Some housewives hold that when canned vegetables may be bought for the low price at which they now stand, it is mistaken economy to attempt to “put up” such articles at home. But there are two sides to this question. In the first place there are small country places where it is next to impossible to buy many kinds of canned vegetables, and the dwellers in such localities must, of necessity, do their own canning. A still greater consideration is the fact that vegetables preserved in tin cans are not as delicate in flavor as those put up in glass. Imported peas, beans, etc., may be purchased in glass jars, but these are so expensive as to be beyond the reach of the economical housewife. Let her then supply herself with a number of wide-mouthed glass jars with properly fitting rubber rings and tops, and she may snap her fingers at importers and domestic grocers.