“The term “garden” is appropriately applied to the spring of the year 1832 and its successor, 1833. The summer of 1831 had been dry, and crops and vegetation had failed; the prairies had been left parched and brown, and but for the open-handed manner of the pioneer in helping his distressed brother, there had indeed been great suffering. But in 1832, barring the scare of the Indian campaign then carried on, the people were permitted to revel in a luxury of vegetation. Rains descended and the foliage of the trees was beautiful beyond description. The wild grape and cherry and plum, and the bee tree, laden with honey, were all free to him who cared to gather. Wild deer, turkeys, ducks, geese, grouse and squirrels were everywhere present in abundance for the huntsman, while the streams were plentifully stocked with fish. The wild rose spread out its blossoms over the prairies, and if man, though never so weary, could not revel in his surroundings he was sordid enough. The pathway of the pioneer was hard and coarse, but a thoughtful God seasoned his toil with many a blessing denied to us of the crowded city.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
To preserve the juice of cherries, plums, peaches, and similar fruits, proceed as for jelly, but adding to each quart of juice half a pint of sugar instead of a quart as for jelly. If it is not desired to have the fruit juice transparent, the pulp of the fruit may be pressed to extract all the liquid.
Sources: The passage is from Frank Everett Stevens, The Black Hawk War Including a Review of Black Hawk's Life, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies of 1887, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — teal cloth, beehive stamp.