112 WE FARM FOR A HOBBY 



knuckle end, with the tail, is best eaten fresh, 

 boiled with sauerkraut. The feet are cooked down, 

 the bones removed, vinegar, whole clove, and bay 

 leaf other spices to taste are added, and a deli- 

 cious aspic "souse" is the result. 



So much for the fresh goods. Almost any part 

 of the pig can be pickled and smoked. At Medlock 

 Farm we confine ourselves to the hams, bacons, 

 shoulders, jowl, and spare ribs. All these are packed 

 in an oak barrel and covered with a brine made of 

 salt, brown sugar, and saltpeter. Like the smok- 

 ing, and contrary to general belief, the saltpeter 

 has no curative value whatever: it is put in to give 

 the meat its typical red color. The meat is weighted 

 down with a bit of board and a stone, so it will all 

 be covered with brine. It is left there three days 

 per pound. A twenty-pound ham, for instance, will 

 be in pickle sixty days. When removed, the bacons 

 are soaked thirty minutes, the hams an hour, in 

 fresh water. They are then ready for smoking. 



The intrastate controversy over scrapple is 

 nothing to the deathless war that rages back and 

 forth across the Mason-Dixon line over the proper 

 way to smoke hams. North of the line only a few 

 dastardly renegades use hickory; all us patriots 

 smoke with apple wood. However, as one expert 

 points out dispassionately, any non-resinous wood 

 will make a good smoke. When we began making 

 our own ham and bacon we smoked it in the din- 



