ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 575 



Even a little spring rill, across which a 

 man can step, if stocked yearly with a 

 thousand fry, costing twenty dollars, will 

 yield a profitable interest on the money 

 •expended. The labor of catching them 

 is, of course, to be considered. But in 

 most cases their capture is thought to be 

 3. pleasure, and if there should be a pro- 

 prietor who finds no enjoyment in trout- 

 fishing, he will find enough to do that 

 work for him without wages. It must be 

 obvious that stocking streams, though 

 limited as to results, is yet in its degree 

 more profitable than the other method of 

 fish-raising, inasmuch as there is no out- 

 lay for feed, and the trout require no 

 care. 



The two methods may often be com- 

 bined with advantage. We once met an 

 old farmer who was taking a trout to the 

 village hotel for sale. The fish weighed 

 plump four pounds, and was a beauty. 

 We learned that he was in the habit of 

 bringing such fish occasionally, and on 

 questioning him, found that he had a lit- 

 tle spring stream of water running through 

 his land, and that in its course he had 

 <lug out a deep hole — simply a hole in 

 the ground, without screens or apparatus 

 of any kind. The larger trout from the 

 stream collected in this hole, and he 

 would feed them with scraps from his ta- 

 ble, refuse meat from his butchering, etc. 

 With the outlay of very little trouble, and 

 210 cash, the old gentleman must have 

 gathered a good many dollars per year 

 from his hole-in-the-ground trout-pond. 

 As a hint of what can be done in fish- 

 raising with small means, his example is 

 worthy of consideration. 



There are a few erroneous impressions 

 still lingering in the public mind which 

 it might be well, if possible, to correct. 

 No man need ever expect to make 

 a more rapid fortune in this business 

 than in any other. The same qualities 

 which command success in farming or 

 the mechanic arts, will command suc- 

 cess in trout-culture. He who fails at 

 ■everything else will not succeed in rais- 

 ing fish. It has also been imagined that 

 trout required no feed, and many ingeni- 

 ous estimates as to the profits of the 

 business have left this item out of account. 

 Now, when "the time arrives that pigs can 

 De fattened without feeding, or calves 

 turned into beef without food, then trout 



may be grown without expense. Food 

 they must have in some way. In a na- 

 tural trout-stream a limited number can 

 forage for themselves; but trout in a 

 pond are like cattle in a barn — they must 

 have food furnished to them or starve. 

 In other words, fish cannot live on wa- 

 ter. 



PORK, Cutting Up and Curing.— Have 

 the hog laid on his back on a stout, clean 

 bench; cut off the head close to the base. 

 If the hog is large, there will come oft a con- 

 siderable collar, between head and should- 

 ers, which, pickled or dried, is useful for 

 cooking with vegetables. Separate the 

 jowl from the face at the natural joint; 

 open the skull lengthwise and take out 

 the brains, esteemed a luxury. Then 

 with a sharp knife remove the backbone 

 the whole length, then the long strip of 

 fat underlying it, leaving about one inch 

 of fat covering the spinal column. 



The leaf lard, if not before taken out 

 for the housewife's convenience, is re- 

 moved, as is also the tenderloin — a fishy- 

 shaped piec? of flesh — often used for 

 sausage, but which makes delicious steak. 

 The middling or sides are now cut out, 

 leaving the shoulders square-shaped and 

 the hams pointed, or they may be round- 

 ed, to your taste. The spare-ribs are usu- 

 ally wholly removed from the sides, with 

 but little meat adhering. It is the sides 

 of small, young hogs cured as hams that 

 bear the name of breakfast bacon. The 

 sausage meat comes chiefly in strips from 

 the backbone, part of which may also be 

 used as steak. The lean trimmings from 

 about the joints are used for sausage, the 

 fat scraps rendered up with the backbone 

 lard. 



The thick part of the backbone that lies 

 between the shoulders, called grisken or 

 chine, is separated from the tapering, 

 bony part, called backbone by way of 

 distinction, and used as fresh. The chines 

 are smoked with jowls, and used in late 

 winter or spring. 



When your meat is to be pickled it 

 should be dusted lightly with saltpetre, 

 sprinkled with salt, and allowed to drain 

 twenty-four hours; then plunge it into 

 pickle, and keep under with a weight. It 

 is good policy to pickle a portion of the 

 sides. They, after soaking, are sweeter 

 to cook with vegetables, and the grease 



