lowly and simmer gently until tender. The pieces will
not all require the same time to cook. Take each piece up as soon as it
is so tender that a silver fork will pierce it readily. Drain on a
platter. Strain the water in which the fruit was cooked through cheese
cloth. Put two quarts of the strained liquid and the sugar into the
preserving kettle; stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. When
it boils skim well and put in the cooked fruit. Boil gently for about
twenty minutes.

CRAB APPLES.

6 quarts of apples.
1-1/2 quarts of sugar.
2 quarts of water.

Put the sugar and water into the preserving kettle. Stir over the fire
until the sugar is dissolved. When the sirup boils skim it.

Wash the fruit, rubbing the blossom end well. Put it in the boiling
sirup, and cook gently until tender. It will take from twenty to fifty
minutes, depending upon the kind of crab apples.

PLUMS.

8 quarts of plums.
2 quarts of sugar.
1 pint of water.

Nearly all kinds of plums can be cooked with the skins on. If it is
desired to remove the skin of any variety, plunge them in boiling water
for a few minutes. When the skins are left on, prick them thoroughly to
prevent bursting. (See fruit pricker, p. 10.)

Put the sugar and water into the preserving kettle and stir over the
fire until the sugar is dissolved. Wash and drain the plums. Put some of
the fruit in the boiling sirup. Do not crowd it. Cook five minutes; fill
and seal the jars. Put more fruit in the sirup. Continue in this manner
until all the fruit is done. It may be that there will not be sufficient
sirup toward the latter part of the work; for this reason it is well to
have a little extra sirup on the back of the stove.

STEWED TOMATOES.

Wash the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for five minutes. Pare
and slice, and then put into the preserving kettle; set the kettle on
an iron ring. Heat the tomatoes slowly, stirring frequently from the
bottom. Boil for thirty minutes, counting from the time the vegetable
begins actually to boil. Put in sterilized jars and seal.

WHOLE TOMATOES.

8 quarts of medium-sized tomatoes.
4 quarts of sliced tomatoes.

Put the pared and sliced tomatoes into a stewpan and cook as directed
for stewed tomatoes. When they have been boiling twenty minutes take
from the fire and rub through a strainer. Return to the fire.

While the sliced tomatoes are cooking, pare the whole tomatoes