404 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



[Chap. IV. 



ing the pieces. If too much cooked, it assumes a disgusting stringy apiJCiU"- 

 ance, and loses all fruity character. The rosy color of tlie stalks will give 

 your dish an atti-iictive appearance, and the dysi)e2:>tic will find in it a power- 

 ful aid to digestion. 



Tliis, if thinly spread upon plates, and dried in the sun or a slow oven, 

 just as the pulp of peaches or stewed pumpkin is sometimes prepared, will 

 keej) as well us pumpkin, if packed away iu thick paper bags or boxes, and 

 kept in a dry place. 



liliubarb has within a brief period, quite wjthiu our memory, become 

 generally diffused, and is now looked upon as a family necessity rather than 

 a luxury. There are several varieties : Cahoon's seedling is the largest, but 

 is rather coarse and not so high flavored as some otliers, of which we may 

 have more to saj' under the head of the garden. We will only speak licro 

 of one or two methods of preserving the good qualities of the stalk by dry- 

 ing. For drying whole, the Victoria is one of the best varieties. Other 

 sorts contain too much woody fiber. 



Ho. Facts about Pork aud Bacou— How to Cure and Keep Ilaias.— The best 

 and most solid pork is made by rajjid feeding of pigs in autumn, M-hicli have 

 been kept growing, but not fat, all summer. Hogs that are kept fat tln-ough 

 the summer are most apt to afibrd soft pork, which shrinks in the pot. 



One writer says that — " Pigs should be wintered upon two ears of corn 

 a day, fed very regularly, one at night and one in the morning, keeping 

 them in a warm, close pen, without water, and they Avill hibernate in good 

 condition upon this small amount of feed. If watered or fed with liquid 

 food, and kept in the cold, much of the food is expended in keeping up 

 animal heat. The pigs should be in good condition when put uj), and must 

 be well bedded to enable them to keep warm." 



446. Dry-Salting Bacon. — Hams, or any part of the pig designed for bacon, 

 we think, should never be put in pickle ; they are decidedly better salted 

 dry. 



Our practice has been to weigh both pork and salt, giving six pounds of 

 fine salt to one hundred pounds of pork. First sprinkle about one fourth 

 of an ounce of saltpeter, finely pulverized, upon a ham or shoulder, 

 and then rub it well over with salt, and pile up the pieces in some dry 

 room, just as you would pile up a lot of stove-wood. It should be over- 

 hauled once, and the spare salt rubbed on fresh-looking spots, and tlie pile 

 reconstructed so as to allow the air to come to all parts. It will completely 

 salt in as many days as a ham weighs pounds. 



For pickled pork, it is advantageous to salt it in bulk, before packing in 

 barrels. Nothing will drain off from meat thus salted, but just what should 

 drain away. "When your pork is ready to go into the barrel, pack it as tight 

 as you can force it in, and then fill the barrel with brine ; not salted water, 

 but brine, which is water saturated with salt. Pork thus cured will keep 

 longer than we can calculate. 



447. English and Irish Mode of Curing Bacoui— The Irish Farmer^s Gazette 



