If using hot-water-bath outfit sterilize from twenty to thirty minutes.  After sterilizing remove packs, seal glass jars, wrap in paper to prevent bleaching, and store in a dry cool place.

When using a steam-pressure canner instead of the hot-water bath sterilize for ten minutes with five pounds of steam pressure.  Never allow the pressure to go over ten pounds when you are canning soft fruits.

WHEN TO CAN

Inexperienced canners may not know when certain fruits are in season and at their prime for canning.  The list below is necessarily subject to change, as seasons vary from year to year; but in normal years this table would hold true for the Northern States.

Apples             September
Apricots           August
Blackberries       August
Cherries           July
Currants           July
Gooseberries       July
Grapes             September
Huckleberries      July
Peaches            August-September
Pears              September
Pineapple          June
Plums              August
Quinces            September
Raspberries        July
Rhubarb            All summer
Strawberries       May-June

For your canning you will need as your guide the charts on the pages which follow.  They are very simple and will tell you how to prepare all the various fruits, whether or not they are to be blanched, and if so exactly how many minutes, and how long to cook or sterilize the products, according to the outfit you are using.

CHART FOR CANNING SOFT FRUITS AND BERRIES

[A] number of minutes to blanch or hot-dip [B] in hot water bath outfit at 212 deg.F [C] in condensed steam outfit [D] in water-seal outfit 214 deg.F [E] in steam pressure 5 to 10 pounds [F] in pressure cooker 10 pounds

                     Numberof minutes to sterilize

kind of | [A] |[B] |[C] |[D] |[E] |[F] |remarks
fruit/preparation | | | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
--------
apricots:  To remove|1 to 2| 16 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 5 |Use
skins hot-dip and | | | | | | |medium-thick
cold-dip.  Can be | | | | | | |sirup
canned with the | | | | | | |
skins.  Pits give a | | | | | | |
good flavor | | | | | | |

                                      | | | | | | |

blackberries:  Pick | None | 16 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 5 |Use medium-thin
over, wash and stem| | | | | |