The juice should now be put into a stone jar set in a pan of water or heated in a double boiler. It is just at this point that most people make a mistake and destroy the fine flavour of the grape by boiling the juice. It should never boil. If you have a thermometer use it now. The object of heating this juice is to destroy the yeast spores and other organisms which have alighted on the grapes as they hung in the arbour and which are so small that they came right through the mesh of the muslin bag. A temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees to two hundred degrees Fahr. is high enough. Take the juice from the fire when the two hundred Fahr. is reached. A thermometer is not absolutely necessary. When the juice begins to steam it is getting close up to two hundred and twelve degrees Fahr., the boiling point, which you must avoid.
Making prime quality unfermented grape juice requires two forenoons. If you want your jars to be clear from top to bottom instead of muddy with sediment you will set the juice away in an enamelled or glass vessel until morning, when you will see why this precaution is necessary. With greatest care dip the clear liquid off and filter it. A flannel bag made in the shape of a cone with a stiff wire or wooden ring at the top to hold it open, is the best filter. Several thicknesses of flannel or felt are better than one. All the tiny particles of sediment will be caught in the woollen meshes and the juice will be pure. The last traces of settlings, will be removed and the liquid will be clear. The colour and flavour will depend on the kind of grape used.
Put the filtered juice into bottles or fruit jars that have been sterilized by boiling in water. Do not fill them quite full. Wiping is unnecessary. Fit a false bottom made of a thin board or slats into the bottom of the washboiler and set the jars of grape juice with rubbers and covers on but not screwed down in on this. Put water into the boiler till it comes up to the shoulders of the jars. Heat now until the water is on the point of boiling, but do not let it boil. Remove jars from the water and screw down the covers. If bottles are used, clean, sterilized corks must be put in, while the juice is still in the hot water. If the corks are very tight further sealing is not required, but wax or paraffine is put over them by cautious persons to make assurance doubly sure.
Quart jars are probably most economical and will find a ready sale. Grape juice will ferment very soon after unsealing and should be used immediately. Even a small family will have no difficulty in consuming a quart if given the opportunity. Many delicious desserts can be made with this juice combined with sugar, eggs, gelatine, cream, lemons, and other fruits.
MAKING LEAF MOULD
Every year I see boys and girls raking leaves from the lawns and either piling them in the street or in the back yard and then burning them. Nobody likes an outdoor fire more than I do, whether it is a real camp fire, a little back yard faggot fire just enough to roast a few potatoes and onions and play gypsy, or a big blazing bonfire, almost dangerous and wholly splendid. What I don't like is a sickly, smouldering pile of leaves sending out a suffocating smudge, bursting with sudden flame at night and having to be put out after you had your slippers on and had begun a new book. Such a fire is a nuisance to you and to the neighbourhood and no satisfaction.
Burning leaves is like burning money. That is quite another way of looking at it. "Why, most people have to pay out money to get their leaves taken away," you say. True, but that is because we are such a lot of wasters. We are just beginning to learn to be economical, because we must. To make a long story short, turn your leaves into money by composting them.
For greenhouse work pure leaf mould is a necessity and the supply of the real article is never equal to the demand. Ask the florist in your town where he gets leaf mould and how much it costs him.
Making leaf mould is simple. All you have to do is to rake the leaves into a pile where they can lie still and rot. To make a really neat job and lose none of your work or leaves make a frame of boards a foot high or so and as large as you think your leaves will require. Set this frame in some part of the yard where it will not look unsightly but as near the source of leaf supply as is permissible. If you have to carry the leaves by wheelbarrow you will see the force of this. Use a pony and cart for the job if you have them. A big box or barrel on a wheelbarrow is better than the wheelbarrow alone. Get a layer of leaves a foot deep, then tramp it. If water is handy, wetting them with a few pailfuls would make them pack well. Put on layer after layer of leaves if pure leaf mould is to be made.