_Ingredients._—Fresh fruits, such as currants, raspberries, cherries,
gooseberries, plums of all kinds, damsons, &c.; wide-mouthed glass
bottles, new corks to fit them tightly. _Mode._—Let the fruit be full
grown, but not too ripe, and gathered in dry weather. Pick it off the
stalks without bruising or breaking the skin, and reject any that is
at all blemished: if gathered in the damp, or if the skins are cut
at all, the fruit will mould. Have ready some _perfectly dry_ glass
bottles, and some nice _new_ soft corks or bungs; burn a match in
each bottle, to exhaust the air, and quickly place the fruit in to be
preserved; gently cork the bottles, and put them in a very cool oven,
where let them remain until the fruit has shrunk away a fourth part.
Then take the bottles out; _do not open them_, but immediately beat the
corks in tight, cut off the tops, and cover them with melted resin.
If kept in a dry place, the fruit will remain good for months; and on
this principally depends the success of the preparation; for if stored
away in a place that is in the least damp, the fruit will soon spoil.
_Time._—From 5 to 6 hours in a very slow oven.
FRUIT, to Bottle Fresh.
_Ingredients._—Any kind of fresh fruit, such as currants, cherries,
gooseberries, all kinds of plums, &c.; wide-mouthed glass bottles,
new corks to fit them tightly. _Mode._—the fruit must be full-grown,
not too ripe, and gathered on a fine day. Let it be carefully picked
and put into the bottles, which must be clean and perfectly dry. Tie
over the tops of the bottles pieces of bladder; stand the bottles in a
large pot, copper, or boiler, with cold water to reach to their necks;
kindle a fire under, let the water boil, and as the bladders begin to
rise and puff, prick them. As soon as the water boils, extinguish the
fire, and let the bottles remain where they are, to become cold. The
next day remove the bladders, and strew over the fruit a thick layer of
pounded sugar; fit the bottles with cork, and let each cork lie close
at hand to its own bottle. Hold for a few moments, in the neck of the
bottle, two or three lighted matches, and when they have filled the
bottle neck with gas, and before they go out, remove them very quickly;
instantly cork the bottle closely, and dip it in bottle-cement.
_Time._—Altogether about 8 hours.