slowly until tender; dish them on a glass
dish; reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly for 5 minutes; take out the
lemon-peel, pour the syrup over the figs, and the compote, when cold,
will be ready for table. A little port wine, or lemon-juice, added just
before the figs are done, will be found an improvement.

_Time_.--2 to 3 hours to stew the figs.

_Average cost_, figs, 2s. to 3s. per dozen.

_Seasonable_ in August and September.

TO BOTTLE FRESH FRUIT.

(_Very useful in Winter_.)

I.

1542. INGREDIENTS.--Fresh fruits, such as currants, raspberries,
cherries, gooseberries, plums of all kinds, damsons, &c.; wide-mouthed
glass bottles, new corks to fit them tightly.

_Mode_.--Let the fruit be full grown, but not too ripe, and gathered in
dry weather. Pick it off the stalks without bruising or breaking the
skin, and reject any that is at all blemished: if gathered in the damp,
or if the skins are cut at all, the fruit will mould. Have ready some
_perfectly dry_ glass bottles, and some nice new soft corks or bungs;
burn a match in each bottle, to exhaust the air, and quickly place the
fruit in to be preserved; gently cork the bottles, and put them into a
very cool oven, where let them remain until the fruit has shrunk away a
fourth part. Then take the bottles out; _do not open them,_ but
immediately beat the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and cover them
with melted resin. If kept in a dry place, the fruit will remain good
for months; and on this principally depends the success of the
preparation; for if stored away in a place that is in the least damp,
the fruit will soon spoil.

_Time_.--From 5 to 6 hours in a very slow oven.

II.

1543. INGREDIENTS.--Any kind of fresh fruit, such as currants, cherries,
gooseberries, all kinds of plums, &c.; wide-mouthed glass bottles, new
corks to fit them tightly.

_Mode_.--The fruit must be full-grown, not too ripe, and gathered on a
fine day. Let it be carefully picked and put into the bottles, which
must be clean and perfectly dry. Tie over the tops of the bottles pieces
of bladder; stand the bottles in a large pot, copper, or boiler, with
cold water to reach to their necks; kindle a fire under, let the water
boil, and as the bladders begin to rise and puff, prick them. As soon as
the water boils, extinguish the fire, and let the bottles remain where
they are, to become cold. The next day remove the bladders, and strew
over the fruit a thick layer of pounde