kernels added to the jam just
before it is done: these impart a very delicious flavour to the plums.
The above proportion of sugar would answer for Orleans plums; the
Imperatrice Magnum-bonum, and Winesour would not require quite so much.

_Time_.--1/2 hour to simmer gently, 1/4 hour to boil rapidly.

_Best plums for preserving_.--Violets, Mussels, Orleans, Imperatrice
Magnum-bonum, and Winesour.

_Seasonable_ from the end of July to the beginning of October.

PLUMS.--The Damson, or Damascene plum, takes its name from
Damascus, where it grows in great quantities, and whence it was
brought into Italy about 114 B.C. The Orleans plum is from
France. The Greengage is called after the Gage family, who first
brought it into England from the monastery of the Chartreuse, at
Paris, where it still bears the name of Reine Claude. The
Magnum-bonum is our largest plum, and greatly esteemed for
preserves and culinary purposes. The best sorts of plums are
agreeable at the dessert, and, when perfectly ripe, are
wholesome; but some are too astringent. They lose much of their
bad qualities by baking, and are extensively used, from their
cheapness, when in full season, in tarts and preserves; but they
are not a very wholesome fruit, and should be eaten in
moderation.

PRESERVED PLUMS.

1581. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of fruit allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar;
for the thin syrup, 1/4 lb. of sugar to each pint of water.

_Mode_.--Select large ripe plums; slightly prick them, to prevent them
from bursting, and simmer them very gently in a syrup made with the
above proportion of sugar and water. Put them carefully into a pan, let
the syrup cool, pour it over the plums, and allow them to remain for two
days. Having previously weighed the other sugar, dip the lumps quickly
into water, and put them into a preserving-pan with no more water than
hangs about them; and boil the sugar to a syrup, carefully skimming it.
Drain the plums from the first syrup; put them into the fresh syrup, and
simmer them very gently until they are clear; lift them out singly into
pots, pour the syrup over, and when cold, cover down to exclude the air.
This preserve will remain good some time, if kept in a dry place, and
makes a very nice addition to a dessert. The magnum-bonum plums answer
for this preserve better than any other kind of plum. Greengages are
also very delicious done in this manner.

_Time_.--