Jam of Kentish or Flemish Cherries

Stone and weigh the fruit.

Heat it rather slowly so the juice may be well drawn out before it begins to boil, and stew the cherries until they are tolerably tender.

Boil the cherries quickly, keeping them well turned and stirred from the bottom of the pan, for three-quarters of an hour or somewhat longer if there still remains a large quantity of juice.

Draw the pan from the fire, and stir in gradually half a pound of sugar for each pound of cherries.

Add an ounce or two more sugar if the fruit is more than usually acid, or if a quite sweet preserve is desired.

When the sugar is dissolved, continue the boiling rapidly for about twenty minutes longer; clear off all the scum as it appears, and keep the jam stirred well and constantly, but not quickly, to prevent its adhering to the bottom of the preserving-pan.

Heat the fruit and boil it gently until quite tender, turning it often and pressing it down into the juice; then quicken the boiling to evaporate the juice before adding sugar.