Embedded within Esther Robertson's article on collecting and photographing wild flowers, this traditional domestic preparation details how to make cough syrup from the dried root bark of wild or choke cherry trees. Extracted cold to preserve aromatic constituents, the resulting liquid is sweetened with sugar and preserved with glycerine.
Original
The bark from the roots of these
trees forms the wild cherry cough sirup
and the basis of many cough medicines.
It should be collected in August, dried
in strips, and when wanted for use
ground in a coffee mill or cut in tiny
pieces. A good handful of this is to
be soaked in a pint of cold water for
twenty-four hours ; strain and add two
ounces of glycerine. Dissolve about a
pound and a half of sugar in this
without heat and by stirring, giving a
beautifully clear, pleasant, and fragrant
sirup. The dose is from two teaspoon-
fuls to a tablespoonful.
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Public rights statementThis material was originally published in the United States in 1900 and is believed to be in the public domain in the United States. Source: Good Housekeeping 1900-07: Vol 31 Iss 1, 1900-07-01, page n49, via https://archive.org/details/sim_good-housekeeping_good-housekeeping_1900-07_31_1. Repastory is not affiliated with or endorsed by Good Housekeeping 1900-07: Vol 31 Iss 1 or its current owner. Rights may vary outside the United States.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 good handful wild cherry root bark, dried in strips, and ground in a coffee mill or cut in tiny pieces
1 pint cold water
2 ounces glycerine
1 1/2 pounds sugar
Directions
Collect bark from the roots of wild or choke cherry trees in August and dry it in strips. When needed, grind it in a coffee mill or cut into tiny pieces. Soak a good handful of the prepared bark in one pint of cold water for twenty-four hours. Strain the liquid and add two ounces of glycerine. Dissolve about one and a half pounds of sugar into the mixture without heat, stirring until dissolved into a clear, fragrant syrup. Take in doses of two teaspoonfuls to one tablespoonful.
Item type
recipe
Yield
Not stated
Timing
twenty-four hours
Temperature
without heat
Equipment
coffee mill; strainer
Names & connections
Medicinal syrupstopic · categorized under
Home remediestopic · categorized under
Source context
publication context
Wild Flower Collections
Wild Flower Collections
By ESTHER ROBERTSON
MANY well read and cultivated people have little knowledge of our common wild flowers ; but now that photography has become so almost universal an accomplishment, even with children, there can hardly be found a more profitable or pleasant pastime during the coming summer vacation than the gathering, photographing, and writing up of a wild flower collection.
Source evidence: Wild Flower Collections
By ESTHER ROBERTSON
related reference
Wild or Choke Cherries description
Wild or Choke Cherries are too familiar to require much description. They grow on small trees, from five to twenty feet high, over all our country. The leaves are of a bright, clean, dark, shining green, with rather hairy veins underneath, and saw-toothed edges. Long clusters of lovely white flowers blossom in May and are followed by little dark red berries, with a rather bitter, astringent taste.
Source evidence: Wild or Choke Cherries are too familiar to require much description. They grow on small trees, from five to twenty feet high, over all our country.
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