he
heads and shred the cabbage very finely. There are shredding machines
on the market, but if one is not available use a slaw cutter or a
large sharp knife.

After the cabbage is shredded pack at once into a clean barrel, keg or
tub, or into an earthenware crock holding four or five gallons. The
smaller containers are recommended for household use. When packing
distribute the salt as uniformly as possible, using one pound of salt
to forty pounds of cabbage. Sprinkle a little salt in the container
and put in a layer of three or four inches of shredded cabbage, then
pack down with a wooden utensil like a potato masher. Repeat with
salt, cabbage and packing until the container is full or the shredded
cabbage is all used.

Press the cabbage down as tightly as possible and apply a cloth, and
then a glazed plate or a board cover which will go inside the holder.
If using a wooden cover select wood free from pitch, such as basswood.
On top of this cover place stone, bricks or other weights--use flint
or granite; avoid the use of limestone, sandstone or marble. These
weights serve to keep vegetables beneath the surface of the liquid.
The proportion of salt to food when fermenting with dry salt is a
quarter pound of salt to ten pounds of food. Do not use more, for the
product will taste too salty.

Allow fermentation to proceed for ten days or two weeks, if the room
is warm. In a cellar or other cool place three to five weeks may be
required. Skim off the film which forms when fermentation starts and
repeat this daily if necessary to keep this film from becoming a scum.
When gas bubbles cease to rise when you strike the side of the
container, fermentation is complete. If there is a scum it should be
removed.

As a final step pour very hot melted paraffin over the brine until it
forms a layer from a quarter to a half-inch thick, to prevent the
formation of the scum which occurs if the weather is warm or the
storage place is not well cooled. The cabbage may be used as soon as
the bubbles cease to rise. If scum forms and remains the cabbage will
spoil. You may can the cabbage as soon as bubbles cease to rise and
fermentation is complete. To can, fill jars, adjust rubbers and partly
seal. Sterilize 120 minutes in hot-water bath, or 60 minutes in
steam-pressure outfit at five to ten pounds pressure.

The vital factor in preserving the material by this method is the
lactic acid which develops in fermentation.

If the vegetabl