50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



soured in the pan was because it had to, but it does not. It 

 is not a natural condition for milk to ever sour. I used to 

 suppose that meat spoiled because it had to. But it was because 

 I did not know anything about it. Investigations, however, 

 have shown that milk need not ever sour, neither need meat ever 

 spoil. Now, take this very quarter of mutton here, by way of 

 illustrating. The first thing to do is to fasten back these loose 

 pieces on the flank, so that the air can get in. Then if you 

 were to hang it up in this room it never would spoil. There 

 never would be any bad smell from it, but if you left it all 

 night where I have left it here, it would spoil in twenty-four 

 hours, or if you left two pieces of the flesh touching each other 

 in a loose way, so that the air could not get in, it would afford 

 a place where decay would commence. But if you hang it 

 where the air can get at it, it will never spoil. Why? Because 

 the air sears it over, dries it, and the microbes that are said to 

 make all the trouble cannot get hold to do their work. It 

 should never be kept moist. The moment it becomes moist it 

 gives the microbes a chance to get a foothold. If it is dry it will 

 never spoil. But suppose you leave it hanging up, and this 

 blue mould that we sometimes hear about makes its appear- 

 ance upon the meat. Do not let that frighten you. A small 

 amount of it does not do any harm. You eat blue mould in 

 other things and there is nothing unhealthy about it. If this 

 blue mould gets started in some place on the quarter, where it 

 has become a little moist, if you will carry the quarter out and 

 lay it on a sawhorse, with the open space towards the sun, it 

 will immediately kill it. Furthermore, a few drops of the oil 

 of bergamot on the stone in the bottom of your cellar will kill 

 anything of that kind which may be in the air. An ideal place 

 in which to keep mutton would, of course, be in the back yard, 

 where there is a free circulation of air, but, of course, in our 

 climate we cannot do it, because of the extreme variability 

 of the weather. Furthermore, I am afraid that some of our 

 lady friends would not be able to bring themselves to think of 

 doing such a thing as that. They think you must have some 

 artificial place, but that is a mistake. A quarter of mutton 

 hung up in the air would keep for a long time perfectly pure 

 and sweet, whereas, if it was put in the refrigerator in a very 

 short time it would not be fit to eat. I do not know why that 

 is so, but I know it to be so. A little amount of mould may 



