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To make the stuffing for forty melons.

Wash a pound of white race ginger very clean; pour boiling water on it, and let it stand twenty-four hours; slice it thin, and dry it; one pound of horse-radish scraped and dried, one pound of mustard seed washed and dried, one pound of chopped onion, one ounce of mace, one of nutmeg pounded fine, two ounces of turmeric, and a handful of whole black pepper; make these ingredients into a paste, with a quarter of a pound of mustard, and a large cup full of sweet oil; put a clove of garlic into each mango.

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To make yellow pickle.

Put all the articles intended for the yellow pickle in a pot, and pour on them boiling salt and water—­let them stand forty-eight hours, take advantage of a clear hot day, press the water from the articles, and lay them to dry in full sunshine, on a table covered with a thick soft cloth, with the corners pinned securely, that they may not blow up over the things—­the cloth absorbs the moisture; and by turning them frequently on a dry place, they become white, and receive the colour of the turmeric more readily—­one day of clear sunshine is enough to prepare them for the first vinegar.  When dried, put them in a pot of plain cold vinegar, with a little turmeric in it—­let them remain in it two weeks to draw off the water from them, and to make them plump—­then put them in a clean pot, and pour on the vinegar, prepared by the following directions—­this is the most economical and best way of keeping them—­mix the turmeric very smoothly, before you add it to your pickles.

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To make green pickles.

Put the articles you intend to pickle, in a pot—­and cover them with boiling salt and water:  put a thick cloth on the top, and then a plate that will fit it—­let it stand till the next morning, then pour off the salt and water, boil it again, and cover them as before; do this until your pickles are a good green—­then put them in plain cold vinegar, with some turmeric in it; and at the end of a fortnight, put them up, as you do the yellow pickle.

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To prepare vinegar for green or yellow pickle.

One pound of ginger sliced and dried, one of horse-radish scraped and dried, one of mustard seed washed and dried, one ounce long pepper, an ounce of mace, and one of nutmegs finely pounded; put all these ingredients in a pot, pour two gallons of strong vinegar on, and let it stand twelve months, stirring it very frequently.  When this vinegar is used for the pickles, put two gallons more vinegar, with some mace and nutmegs, and keep it for another year.  When the prepared vinegar is poured from the ingredients, do it very carefully, that it may be quite clear.  Pickles keep much better when the vinegar is not boiled.  Should the green pickles at any time lose their colour, it may be restored by adding a little more turmeric.  All pickles are best, when one or two years old.