Boil six medium-sized potatoes, peeled and quartered, and a handful of dried hops - the latter tied up in a bit of mosquito netting - in two quarts of water, cold when they go in and heated rapidly to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft and begin to break. Drain them in a colander, returning hops and water to the fire, and rub the potatoes through the holes in the colander into a bowl. Work into them while hot four tablespoonfuls of flour and two of white sugar, moistening, as you go on, with the boiling hop-tea left on the fire. Squeeze the bag to get out the last strong drops. Let the mixture become almost cold just blood-warm - before adding four tablespoonfuls of lively-yeast or a yeast cake dissolved in warm water. Turn all into an open wide-mouthed jar to "work," and set in a moderately warm place. When the bubbles cease to rise, bottle and cork tightly, or put into jars with close tops, and keep in the refrigerator or a cold cellar.

When you wish to use it, send to the cellar or refrigerator for it, pouring out what is needed, and recorking, or sealing, without bringing the jar into the kitchen. It will keep good as long as it lasts, if guarded in this way. There is no better yeast than that made by this recipe, brought from England a hundred years ago.