"Will 't please your honor, taste of these conserves?" - Shakespeare.

Apricot Jam

Take the best ripe fruit and pour boiling water over it to remove skins. Cut in small pieces; crack the pits; blanch kernels and chop very fine. Boil fruit one-half hour after adding- three-quarters lb. of sugar to each lb. of fruit. When cooked add chopped kernels. Use no water.

Mrs. J. W. Stirling.

Preserved Pears

To six lbs. of fruit allow four lbs. of sugar. Peel the pears, put them whole into a granite or porcelain kettle and nearly cover with water. Boil for half an hour, then put in sugar and boil together very slowly until it has become quite thick. Put in jars.

Mrs. Wm. Sutton, Pacific Grove.

Compote Of Pineapple

First of all peel the fruit (one lb. weight of it), and boil this rind in a pt. of water for ten minutes. Strain it, add to it a lb. of lump sugar, and boil for twenty minutes, removing scum as it rises. Then put in the fruit in slices, and boil about fifteen minutes. Next day pour off the syrup and boil again for twenty min- . utes. Put the slices of pineapple into the jars, about six or eight slices to each, and pour the boiling syrup on them. Tie down securely.

B. E., Alameda.

Preserved Peaches

Take ripe, but not soft, peaches. Pour boiling water over them to take off the skins, which will pull off easily. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar; put them together in earthen pan over night. In morning pour off syrup, boil few minutes; set off kettle, take off scum. Put back kettle on tire; when syrup boils up, put in peaches. Boil them slowly three-quarters of an hour; take out and put in jars. Boil syrup fifteen minutes more and pour over them.

Mrs. A. A. Wetherill.

Preserved Figs

Take about a milk pan full of green figs before the frost has touched them, cut a gash both ways across the large end of them; put on the stove with boiling water and four ta-blespoonfuls of salt and let them boil about one-half hour. Take off and put into plenty of cold water to remove all traces of salt. Take out of water and put into a thin syrup, made of sugar and water, to cook. As the syrup boils away replenish by adding boiling water and about a sauce-plate of sugar. Repeat this when necessary and cook very slowly for one day.

Mrs.-----Salinas.

Pumpkin Preserve

(Conserva de Calabaza)

Take a pumpkin, peal it and cut in thin squares, cover with lime water and let it soak over night (one pt. of lime in the water is sufficient); pour out all the lime water and pour in boiling water three times to remove all traces of lime. Then soak in cold water for half an hour. Take off and pour in fresh cold water, with as much sugar as there is pumpkin, and let it boil slowly all day. Add two-thirds of a cupful of orange rinds, and a tablespoonful of whole cloves and let them boil with it. This gives it a good taste. As the syrup boils away, replenish by adding boiling water. Stir occasionally to keep it from sticking to pan.

Mrs. S. F. Geil.