The first weeks of September are devoted to bottling the fruits now dropping from trees and bushes and putting up vegetables from the "potager" for winter.

While those with bountiful gardens in the United States sneak out at dawn to leave part of the annual zucchini glut in mounds on neighboring front porches, guests for dinner in France come bearing surplus jars of jellies and jams, only to have their stock replenished with a return visit from their friends.

Alice Crang, an English chemist who worked on fruit product research, wrote a memorable handbook, "Preserves for all Occasions," first published in Britain in 1944.

She was anxious to state it was not a recipe book but "a guide to those interested in preserving, and to suggest the best methods to adopt under present conditions."

The "present conditions" were, essentially, the wartime shortage of sugar and the difficulties of finding supplies to bottle unless you had a garden that hadn't been bombed into mud.

"At present," she wrote with stiff upper lip, "the art of keeping a family well fed all through the year taxes the ingenuity of the best housewife unless she has been able to put by, during the season of plenty, for the leaner months of winter and spring."

Her book and its advice is, as reviewers say, a model of its kind.

Even in peacetime, bottling is a worthwhile occupation. Of course, fruit and vegetables are more valuable in their fresh state. Not for nothing were long-distance seamen poured their daily ration of lime juice to keep the scurvy at bay. But preserved cabbage or blackcurrants will provide more goodness than fresh lime juice. And careful preserving will retain a good deal of the goodness and vitamins of fresh produce.

Plus, it's an activity that benefits the budget. But there's a real pleasure in being able to set on the table in deep dark winter a bowl of bottled peaches.

Plant your favorite CD in the player or turn on the radio, and bottling becomes a pleasant way to spend an hour or two.

Vegetables are tricky and need more equipment, so the amateur is better off focusing on fruit. The exception is tomatoes, which can be turned into a singing sauce in the same way you make a jam. Just pour boiling water over them and leave for a minute before draining it away. Then slip off their skins and follow your favorite recipe.

Pick fruits for jams or jellies just before they are fully ripe. If they are too ripe, they won't set.

For jams or jellies, a proportion of at least half a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit is essential. But to bottle whole fruit, only enough to taste is necessary -- between 3 and 4 ounces to one pound of fruit -- so long as the fruit is at peak of ripeness. For a fruit juice, 3 ounces of sugar is enough for 1 pint of liquid.

To bottle, it is wiser to buy preserving jars unless you are an old hand at the business. All containers must be sanitized, which simply involves washing them in soapy water, rinsing them well, drying them, then filling them with boiling water to the rim.

When the finished preserve is ready, ladle it into the just-emptied bottle, close with its rubber ring seal and lid, or flat rubber-edged seal and lid, then put it in a pan large enough to make sure that all the containers are covered in water. Bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, then leave the bottles to cool in the water before removing, drying and tightening the lids if necessary. Then store somewhere dark.

Plain, whole tomatoes or fruits can be bottled by putting them into the jars, covering them with hot water or sugar syrup, closing their covers not fully tightly, then immersing them in a pan of water and bringing it up to simmer for 30 minutes. Then they are removed, their lids tightened if necessary, and left to cool.

If all this sounds too complex, here is a recipe for Spicy Pickled Plums that needs no cooking. Set them aside to eat with cold turkey or other cold cuts at Thanksgiving.

-- 2 pounds firm ripe plums

-- 4 allspice berries

-- 4 small dried red chili peppers

-- 4 2-inch sticks of cinnamon

-- 6 whole cloves

-- 4 blades of mace

-- 25 fluid ounces malt vinegar

-- 1� pounds sugar

-- Prick the plums several times with a cocktail stick.

-- Half fill two 2-pound preserving jars with plums.

-- Divide the spices between the two jars, then fill to the top with remaining plums.

-- Bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil in a pan and boil 5 minutes.

-- Pour over plums to cover.

-- Seal and store in a dark place for at least one month.

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