No. 5. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 371 



is the reason we use it in such large amount but the action of salt 

 alone on meat has a tendency to harden muscle fiber, and for that 

 reason we use the sugar. The addition ot sugar has a tendency to 

 soften the muscle fiber and besides to give it the sweet taste. The 

 use of the salt peter is not as a preservative; it is a preservative in 

 itself, but we use that very small amount, two ounces for every 100 

 pounds of meat, as a means of retaining the natural color in that 

 meat. You will find that salt not only has the astringent effect of 

 hardening the muscle fiber, but also removes the natural color of 

 flesh and that is the reason we use the salt peter. We leave it in the 

 liquor five to seven weeks, that is long enough, five to seven weeks, 

 depending on the size of the piece. That is for a brine cure. If you 

 prefer a dry salt cure, we use the same combination except that we 

 don't use as much salt. We use five or six pounds of salt instead of 

 eight to ten, but personally I prefer the pickle cure because it re- 

 quires less attention after you have put it into the curing vessel. 

 With the dry salt cure you must rub the meat at the end of five or six 

 days. Although it is a quicker method of curing, yet it is not quite 

 as economical as the other method of curing. 



A Member: How long do you let it lie to cure it dry? 



PROF. TOMHAVE: Two or three weeks; it cures quicker that 

 way than the other, 



A Member: Why do you boil the water? 



PROF. TOMHAVE: The reason is that any foreign matter that 

 may be in the water coming out of a pump or spring will generally 

 come to the surface and can be skimmed off, and boiled water is 

 more sterile than water directly from the pump. Beside that, you 

 have dissolved your ingredients much quicker than you can in cold 

 water. These are the minor reasons for it. 



A Member: Do you put it on the meat while it is hot? 



PROF. TOMHAVE: No sir. Always have the solution thoroughly 

 cooled before it goes over the meat. You will find that four gallons 

 of water is enough to cover 10 pounds of meat if thoroughly packed 

 in a barrel or jar. If you do not have the meat thoroughly sub- 

 merged, add a little more water to it. Put boards over it and a good 

 clean stone and you should have little or no trouble with your meat, 

 and put that vessel in a cool place where it will not freeze or become 

 too warm. 



A Member: Does it make any difference in the quality of the meat 

 produced by rather hard feeding? 



PROF. TOMHAVE: It depends upon the feeding, of course, and 

 the surroundings. Filthy and undesirable conditions in a small lot 

 would be undesirable as compared to a larger lot with greater free- 

 dom and more sanitary conditions, but the quality is based on breed- 

 ing and feeding rather than environment. If the animal is well 

 taken care of in close quarters, there will be very little difference, so 

 far as quality is concerned, though an animal in the feed lot needs 

 to be taken care of just as much as an animal used for breeding 

 purposes. 



