It is sufficient to say that those three days were so crowded full of
interest and new messages on the gospel of canning that I felt amply
repaid for going fifty miles. As a result of that trip, the first
story ever published on cold-pack canning appeared in _The Country
Gentleman_ and I had the pleasure of writing it. So enthused was I
over this new, efficient and easy way to can not only fruits but hard
vegetables, such as peas, corn and beans, that I wanted to carry the
good news into the kitchen of other busy housewives and mothers.

My mother had insisted that I take with me my younger sister, just
from college, but with no domestic science tendencies. So, much
against her wishes, preferring rather to do some settlement work, my
sister went with me. The canning was so interesting that for the first
time in her life, my sister became enthusiastic over one phase of
cooking. My mother was so pleased at this zeal that when she received
my sister's letter written from DeKalb, saying, "Mother, I am
enthused about this canning and want to can everything in sight this
summer," she hastily washed all available glass jars and tops and had
everything in readiness for young daughter's return. And we canned. We
were not content to can alone but invited all the neighbors in and
taught them how to can. Our community canned more things and more
unusual things, including the hard vegetables, that year than they had
ever attempted before.

Do not think for one minute it was all easy sailing, for there were
doubting Thomases, but it only took time and _results_ to convert even
the most skeptical ones. And here I must make a confession. It was
much easier for my sister, unversed in any phase of canning, to master
this new method than it was for me with my four years' training course
and my five years of teaching canning behind me. And this is the