Pickling is preserving fruit or vegetables in vinegar. Orleans, or white-wine vinegar, though the dearest to purchase, will be found the cheapest in the end, as it keeps best: indeed the success of pickling depends on the goodness of the vinegar. It must, if boiled, be done in saucepans lined with unglazed earthenware, or in stone pipkins; if these are not to be had, the vinegar must not be suffered to remain a moment longer than necessary in the tin saucepan. Wooden spoons must also be used in preparing pickles, as the vinegar acts chemically on metal; also no glazed earthenware may be used for keeping it, as the vinegar acting on the glaze produces a mineral poison.

Everything relating to the art of pickling will be found in Warne's "Model Cookery Book," but we add a few general instructions of our own, Here is an East Indian mode of pickling: -

Take one pound of raw ginger, soak it in water one night, then cut it into thin slices and lay it on a clean sieve to dry. Take two ounces of long pepper, cut it in slices as you did the ginger; then take a pound of garlic, lay it in strong brine for three days, and then dry it as you did the ginger. Then mash it well, or cut it in slices. Put a quarter of a pound of mustard seed into a mortar with half an ounce of turmeric, half a pound of made mustard, and plenty of Cayenne pepper. When all these ingredients are prepared put them into a large stone jar, with a gallon of vinegar, stir it well and often for a fortnight and tie it over closely. Into this pickle you can put any kind of vegetables which have been first well dried.

The whole process is a cold one; the vinegar is not to be boiled.

This pickle will keep good for years if replenished occasionally with vinegar. Keep it filled with vegetables.

Then there is the simple one of cold vinegar alone, without mustard or spices: - Half fill some large glass bottles with vinegar, drop into it any vegetables which being hot in themselves do not require spices, etc. In one bottle put capsicums and chilis; in another, horseradish, eschalots or garlic. Fill each bottle and cork the bottles well down, tie them over with bladders.

Horseradish must be scraped and cut up in rounds about half an inch thick.

The other mode of pickling is with hot vinegar. It should not be boiled, as it loses its strength by evaporation. The vinegar must be put with the spices into a stone jar, bunged well down and covered with a bladder. It may then stand in the oven for three days, shaking it two or three times a day. The vegetables should be prepared by laying them in brine, or sprinkling them with salt for a day or two; then put them into glass bottles and pour the hot vinegar on them. In every case the vinegar must be two or three inches above the vegetables or they will not keep, for the vinegar will gradually be absorbed in the pickles and will therefore shrink. When this is the case more vinegar must be added.

These modes of pickling will answer for all vegetables but walnuts, artichokes, and beetroot, which must be done over the fire themselves. See "Cookery Book" for these especial pickles, and for many others.

Samphire

This seaside wild plant, very much used in the reign of our good Queen Bess, is now not common. Our readers doubtless remember the passage from "King Lear," in which Shakspeare alludes to the dangers to which the samphire gatherer was exposed.

"How fearful And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low !

The crows and choughs that wing the midway air,

Show scai-ce so gross as beetles; halfway down.

Hangs one that gathers samphire; - dreadful trade I.

Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.

* * * * *. * *

I'll look no more Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight Topple down headlong".

One has some reason to rejoice that this "dreadful trade" is no longer remunerative!

Samphire when gathered for immediate eating, is only put into equal parts of sea-water and vinegar. For pickling, steep it in brine for two days; then put it into a jar with vinegar and bake in a cool oven all night, the top of the jar must be covered with a paste of flour and water. When it is done and cool, remove the paste, put the pickle into a glass bottle, fill up with cold vinegar and tie down as for all pickles.

Barberries pickled for garnishing, are dropped into cold vinegar. They must be gathered before they are ripe. Nice bunches to be chosen.

Another Mode Of Preserving Barberries

They must be gathered when not over ripe, and the leaves and dead stalks should be picked off; after which they should be placed in jars in a large quantity of salt and water, and tied down with a bladder. They must be looked at occasionally, and as soon as a scum is seen to rise on them they should be put into new salt and water.

Nasturtium Buds

Gather the seeds in sunny weather, and sprinkle them with salt for a day or two. Drain them from the salt, wipe them, and put them into a pickle bottle. Boil some vinegar, with one ounce of salt to every pint of vinegar, pepper-corns and allspice. Let it get cold and cork closely down for use. These seeds will serve instead of capers for sauce for boiled mutton, or they may be eaten as pickles.

Glass bottles should be used to keep pickles in, and they must stand in a very dry place.

A friend of the writer advises improving the purchased pickles rather than making them wholly at home. He takes some bottles of Crosse and Blackwell's piccalilli, turns out the contents and washes them well with plain cold vinegar. Then he boils up vinegar, ginger, whole peppers, and a quarter pound of mustard together and pours it over the pickles, restores them to their bottles and ties them down.