Icicle Pickles - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 or 2 gal. pickles (several inches long)
1 pt. salt
1 gal. boiling water
alum (size of a walnut)
2 qt. vinegar
8 pt. sugar
1/2 c. pickling spice

Preparation

To pickles add salt; pour 1 gallon boiling water over pickles. Soak them in this brine for 1 week, stirring once a day to keep scum from forming.
Drain, cover with fresh boiling water for 24 hours.
Drain.
Add alum the size of a walnut and cover with boiling water and soak 24 hours.
Drain.
Cut pickles into chunks. Heat to boiling vinegar, sugar and pickling spice.
Pour over pickles hot.
Repeat every morning for 4 days, then they are ready to can.