Vinegar for pickling should be good, but not of the sharpest kind. Brass
utensils should be used for pickling. They should be thoroughly cleaned
before using, and no vinegar should be allowed to cool in them, as the
rust formed by so doing is very poisonous. Boil alum and salt in the
vinegar, in the proportion of half a tea cup of salt, and a table
spoonful of alum, to three gallons of vinegar. Stone and wooden vessels
are the only kinds of utensils that are good to keep pickles in. Vessels
that have had any grease in will not do for pickles, as no washing will
kill the grease that the pot has absorbed. All kinds of pickles should
be stirred up occasionally. If there is any soft ones among them, they
should be taken out, the vinegar scalded, and turned back while hot--if
very weak, throw it away, and use fresh vinegar. Whenever any scum
rises, the vinegar needs scalding. If you do not wish to have all your
pickles spiced, it is a good plan to keep a stone pot of spiced vinegar
by itself, and put in a few of your pickles a short time before they are
to be eaten.