Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

“ requires no food but a skin of dates, which will last him for days ; a delightfully simple commissariat.” Date and Orange Salad.— A nice fruit salad is of oranges, sliced (pips taken out), and stewed dates, with a syrup of orange-juice over both. t ■ ’ 5ul^ A Winter Month. — July is cold and wet and decidedly a winter month. One must go on wearing winter clothing and not leave off flannel underwear. July 2. — Fruit, — Fruit is the same as in June. Oranges are more plentiful now, though still very acid. (Cape people often eat salt with a sour orange.) Guavas are also plentiful. Oranges and Lemons. — Both orange and lemon trees were planted by the early colonists wherever they made a garden, every old farm had its large garden, well fenced round and planted with peach trees, orange trees, saffron pears, and fig trees. Even in the Transvaal every farmhouse has its orange trees. The fruit is not affected by frost, blossoming in September. The fruit matures and grows all through the summer months, and is only perfectly ripe in August and September, taking almost a year to mature. Oranges are sold in June and July, but are very sour, not being quite ripe and sweet till August and September. The “ Dorthesia,” a blight which was a terrible scourge, and entirely destroyed the leaves and made the tree look quite black, has been quite conquered by the small “ ladybird insect,” introduced by Mr. Rudd of Fernwood ; he had them incubated in large quantities, and any one who wished to July “DORTHBSIA.” CAPE GOOSEBERRY JAM have the ladybirds could get them on applying to his gardener, with such good results that now there is not a dorthesia to be seen, and orange groves are flourishing. On many farms in the Eastern Province the orange crop is sold for £400 or £500. The prices for flne oranges in Cape Town range from one to two shillings the dozen. I trust soon they will be less expensive, as they are being planted largely now wherever they will thrive. Some of the old orange groves were splendid. Cape Gooseberries. — Those who have Cape gooseberry bushes, and have trailed them over a fence (where they like best to grow), can now by picking the ripe ones every day and collecting them for a week make a nice jar of jam, i lb. of gooseberries making a nice quantity ; and for afternoon tea I don’t know anything that is more appreciated by visitors from England, or nicer to send home. Cape Gooseberry Jam. — If you have, as suggested, collected the ripe gooseberries (the pods turn yellow when ripe), they may even be kept for lo days till you have 3 or 4 lbs. for a cooking. Shell them, and give one prick with a steel pin. Wash if dusty, then put the fruit in an enamelled or copper saucepan rubbed with olive oil, add just enough water to moisten the gooseberries, and set it to boil pretty briskly for 7 or 10 minutes, then add the sugar (equal to weight of fruit) ; let it boil for another 10 or 15 minutes. Test if it is good by dishing a little in a saucer and letting it cool ; if the syrup has a crinkly or creamy surface it is right, and the syrup must be oily and thick. This jam will keep very well, and is one of our best Cape jams. Unfortunately the “Red Spider,” as it is called, attacks the gooseberry bushes, and LEMON JAM. ROSES. PISH, etc. July