398 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



it over the meat in sufficient quantity to cover it well. In six weeks or two months they will 

 be sufficiently cured to take out, dry and smoke. Small hams and shoulders will of course 

 cure much sooner than large ones. Saltpetre causes meat to retain its red color. 



The following is also highly recommended by those who like spice-flavored meats: 



For 100 Ibs. of meat take 7 Ibs. of good salt, 3 Ibs. of brown sugar (or one quart of 

 molasses), 2 oz. of saltpetre, and 2^ oz. of cloves; 2 oz. of black pepper may also be used, if 

 it is not distasteful to those who are to eat the hams. Pepper is used merely to prevent 

 attacks of flies. Boil all the ingredients in sufficient water to cover the meat when closely 

 packed in the cask. Skim and cool before pouring over the meat. The same ingredients 

 can be used for rubbing the hams, if this mode is preferred to a pickle. For rubbing, how 

 ever, it is better to add another pound of salt and half a pound of sugar to the above ingre 

 dients. This pickle is equally good for hams, shoulders, bacon, corned beef, and dried beef. 

 When corning beef, the meat should be well rubbed in salt, and packed closely in a cask two 

 days before it is pickled. This extracts the blood, and the meat must be taken out and 

 washed before packing for pickling. 



Another pickle for fifty Ibs. of meat is sometimes made of 3 Ibs. of common salt, 2 Ibs. 

 of bag salt, 6 ounces of sal prunella, and 4 Ibs. of brown sugar. 



Still another for the above quantity of meat is prepared from 4^- Ibs. of common salt, 3 

 oz. saltpetre, 3 ounces sal prunella, and 4 Ibs. brown sugar. 



The following is a favorite English method for curing bacon and hams: Half a pound 

 of saltpetre is pounded very fine, and then divided equally, half for the two hams, and half 

 for the sides. For bacon, the powdered saltpetre is then rubbed into the meat on the flesh 

 sides, and the meat is afterwards laid on a bench or table in a cool room, with the skin side 

 down, where it remains twelve hours. Seven pounds of salt and one and a half of brown 

 sugar are then well mixed and heated in a frying pan, and thoroughly rubbed while hot all 

 over the meat. The meat is then put into a salting tray or cask, and the brine begins to 

 form. The meat is well rubbed and basted with the brine every other day, and turned, 

 the bottom pieces being put on the top. After four weeks of this treatment, the meat is 

 hung up to dry, and then smoked. The hams are treated in the same manner, except that 

 4 Ibs. of salt and 1 Ibs. of brown sugar are used. These remain in the pickle five weeks, 

 and are turned every day. The meat is not smoked until quite dry on the outside, or until 

 the salt crystalizes upon the surface. 



For dry salting, a table, bench, or platform of boards will be necessary, where the drip 

 will do no harm, or so constructed that it may be conducted into a pail. Mix a pound and 

 a half of brown sugar with every four pounds of salt; rub the hams with it thoroughly all 

 over every day for a week, laying them down on the skin side ; afterwards every two or three 

 days for two more weeks; then brush off the salt and smoke. 



Smoking Hams and Bacon. After being properly cured, hams and bacon should 

 always be thoroughly dry before being smoked. The meat should be hung up in a dry place 

 for three or four days after curing, in order to drip and have the surface become thoroughly 

 dried. In smoking, be careful not to heat the meat. Some prefer to smoke the meat once 

 in two or three days, taking considerable time for it; others consider five or six consecutive 

 days sufficient. &quot;Where there is considerable meat to smoke, a smoke-house will be a 

 necessity. 



Corn cobs are excellent for smoking hams or bacon, as they impart a sweet and pleasant 

 flavor. Green hickory or sugar maple chips are also good for this purpose. Some prefer the 

 sawdust of these woods, or small brush, to chips. Burr oak wood is also used for smoking. 

 The French use damp wheat straw for this purpose. The smoke should be applied to the 

 meat cold. The temperature of the smoke-house should never be above 80, and hams should 

 never be allowed to freeze, either before or after smoking. After being well smoked and 

 dried, the hams should be put in bags made of common unbleached cotton cloth, well sewed, 



