Wash and soak whole in brine 9 days (1 cup salt to 9 cups water). Tenth day wash and soak in alum solution for 24 hours. (1 tablespoon alum to 1 gallon of water)

Eleventh day soak in clear water for 2 hours. Wash and cut up. Boil 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 cup vinegar together with bag of spice. (Make enough to cover pickles.) Pour boiling hot over pickles each day for 6 days. On 6th day pack pickles in hot jars, cover with boiling syrup and seal.