Select good, firm quinces, rub them over with a damp cloth in order to remove the dust, cut each one into eight pieces and remove the cores. Place the quinces in a preserving-pan on the stove, pour over them enough boiling water to cover, and allow them to boil slowly until they are tender; then drain off the water and let them get cold. Weigh the quinces and allow an equal weight of sugar. The peels and cores should have been tied in a muslin bag and boiled with the quinces. When the quinces are quite cold put them and the sugar into glass or earthenware jars in alternate layers, first sugar, then quinces, and so on and cover. When covering make sure that the air is entirely excluded. Look at them from time to time to see whether any show signs of fermentation; if there is any, place the jars in a pan of hot water and loosen the covers, let the water boil until the quinces are well scalded, then cover the jars down carefully as before.

Chocolate Syrup

Mix half a pound of scraped chocolate cake with one quart of water, add four pounds of loaf-sugar, and stir over a slow fire until the chocolate is dissolved and the sugar syruped.

Currant Syrup

Select red, white or black currants taking care that the fruit is fully ripe, and pick over carefully to free from any rotten ones. Mash the currants in an earthenware crock with a vegetable masher and let it stand for twenty-four hours, at a temperature of from 75 to 85 degrees, Fahrenheit. Keep the crock covered with a cloth, stirring the contents once in a while; then press out the juice through a sieve, measure, and leave it for the night. In the morning add one wineglassful of brandy to every pint of juice; allow this to macerate for a few hours and then filter. After filtering put the juice into a sugar boiler, and stir in a pound and a half of crushed loaf sugar for every pint, heat to boiling, skim and stand in clean bottles previously rinsed out with a little brandy. Cork well, and capsule or wax over.

Red Currant Syrup

Place the required quantity of freshly-picked red currants in a bowl and mash them with a wooden spoon; cover the bowl and let them stand for three or four hours. Strain the juice through a jelly-bag, measure it and put into a sugar boiler with three-quarters of a pound of lump sugar to each pint of juice. Boil until reduced to a clear syrup keeping it well skinned; then take off the fire and leave until cold. Pour the syrup into small bottles, pour a little fresh salad oil on the top of each to preserve it, and put them in an upright position in a dry cupboard until required,

Raspberry Syrup

Put six pounds of raspberries into an earthenware pan, press them gently, sprinkle with four ounces of crushed loaf sugar, and let them remain for ten or twelve hours. Pass the juice through a very fine sieve, measure it, pour it into a preserving-pan, and boil for twenty minutes skimming frequently. To each breakfast cupful of the juice add four ounces of loaf sugar roughly crushed; boil until the liquor commences to thicken, pour it into an earthenware bowl to cool, and then into bottles. Cork and seal them, and stand them in a dry place until wanted.

Strawberry Syrup

Put six pounds of perfectly ripe and dry strawberries into a bowl, pour over them six quarts of cold water in which two and one-half ounces of tartaric acid has been mixed, and let them stand for twenty-four hours. Strain the liquor carefully off the fruit, measure it and for each pint use one pound of finely-crushed loaf sugar. Pour the syrup into bottles, cork them, tie down with twine, and dip the nozzle in melted rosin. Keep the syrup in a dry store-cupboard.