THE EMI?R>NT'S HAND-BOOK. 327 



full to the one hundred pounds. The last layer is 

 pounded in by a heavy iron weight, and capped with 

 coarse salt. It is then passed to the cooper, who puts in 

 the head, and puts on to the barrel one, and on to the 

 tierce at least three iron hoops at each end. The pack- 

 age is then filled with clean strong brine, bunged tight, 

 branded, and is then ready for market. 



The great utility of this method of curing consists in 

 the certainty of the meat keeping in good condition for 

 years in any climate. The blood gets all drained out of 

 the meat before it is barreled, and hence one great cause 

 of injury is avoided. I saw pork and beef which had 

 been two years in the barrel, which was as sweet as 

 when first put up, and the brine was perfectly clear. A 

 friend in London unpacked several packages of Irish and 

 Hamburgh cured provisions, by the side of American. 

 The contrast was anything but flattering to our taste or 

 skill. I could very readily see why our beef and pork 

 bore so bad a name in the market, and was so much of a 

 drug. The meat was not inferior, but it was badly 

 messed, worse cut and cured, and the brine nearly as red 

 as blood, and presenting, by the side of the other, not a 

 very palatable appearance. The large hogs, or heavy 

 pork, which is uniformly cut in six-pound pieces, is 

 packed in tierces, and is then called India or navy pork. 

 The four-pound pieces are put in barrels. 



A barrel of prime pork should contain from twenty five 

 to thirty pieces, cut from the ribs, loins, chines, and belly 

 pieces, all lying between the ham and shoulder, forming 

 what is called the broadside or middle. Three hands 

 and two hind-leg pieces, or three hind-leg pieces and two 

 hands, and fifteen or twenty pieces from other parts of 

 the hog, except no part of the head. The meat must be 

 of prime quality, firm, and well-fattened, cut into four- 

 pound pieces, exactly fifty to the barrel, and weigh not 



