1. Prepare vegetables or fruits.

2. Blanch and cold-dip.

3. Pack in jars, using a wooden paddle to place pieces in position.

4. Fill jars with hot water or syrup.

5. Partly seal jars and place them in the sterilizer. If hot-water bath is used, have a hot bath deep enough to reach within an inch of covers. Count time from when water begins to boil.

G. Process according to time-table, page 323.

7. Remove jars as soon as time is up, and tighten covers. Do not further tighten covers of screw cap jars after the jars have become cold, as heat softens the rubber and makes it stick, forming a seal. Tightening the top after cooling may break the rubber seal, letting into the jar some germ-laden air. Occasionally the cover will cut off the outer edge of a rubber, but it will do no harm if the rubber is under the edge so that a seal may be formed.

* A saccharometer, or sugar gauge, does away with guess-work as to the density of syrups.

If for any reason a cover is removed, return the jar to the canner to be re-sterilized, for twenty to thirty minutes.

8. Set jars upside down to test for leakage. Cover with a towel, for a draft of air may cause sudden contraction which will break the glass.

9. Wash each jar, label and store away in a dry place, dark, if possible, to prevent change of color. Paper wrappings not only exclude light, but prevent mold which causes rubber to decay.

Note. - All jars should be washed thoroughly. If jars that have contained spoiled material are to be used, special care should be taken in cleansing them. Do not use the water in which they have been washed for washing other jars. Sterilize them and their covers by boiling* one hour, or "process" in a steam-pressure cooker from fifteen to thirty minutes. If the jars are of the metal screw-cap type, use new lids.