The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

to run easily, it should be at once put into pots. Jam must always be boiled fast, as slow cooking invariably spoils the colour, and, as long as fruit and sugar are being cooked together, the preserving pan must not be left. The jam must be kept constantly and gently stirred the whole time it is cooking, and the scum must be carefully removed as it rises. The difficulty about jam making for the beginner is that experience is indispensable, as the fruit varies so much each year that no hard and fast rules can be given. Again, remember that, if the fruit is boiled before adding the sugar, it must be carefully watched, for, if allowed to thicken too much, the sugar, when added, will neither melt properly, nor throw up its scum as it should do, and in some seasons when the fruit is very good the juice thickens up almost in a minute, so attention is needed. It must be remembered that these directions are given on the understanding that the best cane sugar is used. Inferior sugar takes longer, as it throws up far more scum than the best clarified sugar will do, and this in itself is a waste, as a certain proportion of jam is bound to rise with the scum, and so be wasted. The question as to quantities is another very anxious one for the beginner. The old rule was equal weights of fruit and sugar, and this is, on the whole, i very safe one ; but in these days many persons consider jam made in these proportions too luscious, and prefer three quarters of a pound of sugar to the one pound of fruit, and in this case the rule of boiling up the fruit well before adding the sugar, should be strictly adhered to. Another point is that dry fruit requires the addition of a little liquid when first put into the preserving pan to keep it from burning, and of this the usual allowance is about a gill to the pound of fruit. Personally, I prefer a little rhubarb juice to the water recommended by some people. This juice is easily prepared by wiping, paring, and cutting up the stalks of rhubarb, then laying them on a dish, strewed with sugar, for an hour or so, to draw out the juice, the whole being then turned into a preserving pan, and heated very slowly and gradually till the juice is all drawn out ; when it is strained and is ready for use ; this juice imparts little or no flavour to the fruit, yet is richer than plain water. Few people, by-the-way, know what an improvement a finely sliced stick of rhubarb is to almost any fruit tart, such as cherry, &c., improving both the quality and the quantity of the juice. Lastly, remember that the fire for jam making should be clear and strong, but not fierce, and on no account should the preserving pan rest directly on the fire itself, but should be placed on a trivet over the grate. As regards potting jam, authorities differ, some people declaring it must not be touched till jam and pots are alike cold ; others, again, that it never keeps so well as when poured boiling hot into the pots and covered over at once, before it has time to cool. A round of white paper cut to fit the pot, and dipped in brandy, or spirit of some kind, then laid on the jam before covering down the pot with either parchment, bladder, &c., is most conducive to the welfare of the jam, which, if properly made and carefully covered,