Never use a kettle in which meats, vegetables, pickles, etc., have been cooked, for canning or sweet preserving, no matter how carefully you may clean it. It will always retain some of the old cooking flavor and mar the preserve products. It is economy to keep one or more good granite or porcelain-lined kettles specially for jellies, jams and marmalades. Clean at once after each using, and do not be content with the ordinary washing, but fill with hot water, add a teasp of baking soda, and let stand a while to sweeten the kettle, and also to remove fruit discolorations. Never use rough scouring soap to clean the inside of a preserving kettle, as that would ruin the enamel and cause the contents to burn so much more easily.

Jelly bags are best made of cheese cloth, of one or two thicknesses. Some cooks prefer flannel, claiming that the juice will come through this clearer. If the jelly bags are made in pointed, oval shape, about 12 inches wide (double) on top and tapering down to 3 or 4 inches at the bottom, that will be found to be much more convenient and satisfactory. A cheap wire extension arm used for hanging up bird cages is a great convenience in the kitchen in preserving time. The jelly bag can be hung up on this, and the drip vessel placed on a chair directly beneath. If flies or gnats are plentiful, envelop the bag, bowl and chair with a mosquito netting.-[A. G., Mass.