Greengages, to preserve.
Gather the plums before they are too ripe, and take as much pump water as will cover them. Put to the water a quarter of a pound of double-refined sugar, boil it, and let it stand to be cold. Prick the greengages with a large needle in four places to the stone; wrap each of them lightly in a vine-leaf, and set them over a slow fire to green. Do so for three days running; on the last day, put in a spoonful of old verjuice or lemon-juice, and a small lump of alum. Next day draw them, and, after taking off the vine-leaves, put them in a thick syrup, first boiled and cleared. Finish them by degrees, by heating them a little every day till they look clear.