Use none but the best cider vinegar; especially avoid the sharp
colorless liquid sold under that name. It is weak sulphuric acid,
warranted to riddle the coat of any stomach, even that of an ostrich,
if that bird were so bereft of the instinct of self-preservation as to
make a lunch of bright-green cucumber-pickle seven times a week.
If you boil pickles in bell-metal, do not let them stand in it one
moment when it is off the fire; and see for yourself that it is
perfectly clean and newly scoured before the vinegar is put in.
Keep pickles in glass or hard stoneware; look them over every month;
remove the soft ones, and if there are several of these, drain off and
scald the vinegar, adding a cup of sugar for each gallon, and pour
hot over the pickles. If they are keeping well, throw in a liberal
handful of sugar for every gallon, and tie them up again. This tends to
preserve them, and mellows the sharpness of the vinegar. This does not
apply to _sweet_ pickle.
Pickle, well made, is better when a year old than at the end of six
months. I have eaten walnut pickle ten years old that was very fine.
Keep your pickles well covered with vinegar.
If you use ground spices, tie them up in thin muslin bags.