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,
the sugar should be dissolved before putting in the fruit, or the latter should be cooked in a syrup made of fruit juice and sugar. The following will give an idea of this process: Have ready your fruit, whether strawberries, black currants, apricots, &c., as you please, and pick out a certain proportion of the finest; weigh these and put them in a pan sprinkled with an equal weight of fine preserving sugar (be careful when doing this to sprinkle the sugar in gradually in layers with the fruit, so as not to crush the latter), and leave them thus till next day. In the meantime take the rest of the fruit, together with some peeled and sliced stalks of rhubarb, and cook it all gently in a covered jar till the juice has flowed freely from it, then place it in a sieve and strain off all the liquid possible. Now take this juice and pour it over the sweetened fruit previously set aside, and leave this to soak together for another twenty-four hours, allowing from one to two gills to each pound of the preserved fruit, the quantity of added juice depending a great deal on whether the preserve is to be very juicy or not; now pour off all the juice which will have appeared, and put it on to boil with an equal weight of pure cane sugar, allowing it to boil up rapidly, and, when it does, lay in the whole fruit, and boil altogether for twelve to fifteen minutes, stirring it very gently (not to break the fruit), and removing every particle of scum as it rises. This preserve is well worth the trouble it involves, for the fruit will be found quite firm and plump, as well as tender, while the syrup round it will be of a creamy consistency, delicious both in richness of flavour and