496 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. xxiv. 



bacon, the fat alone is cured, or rather salted, 

 and cut off to within an inch of the lean, 

 which is always eaten fresh, and is certainly 

 the finest pork we have ever tasted — white, 

 firm, and having that mellow flavour which 

 belongs to the flesh of all full-grown animals. 



The Wiltshire bacon, which is in such high 

 repute, is most generally prepared in that and 

 the adjoining districts from dairy-fed pork, 

 and is cured in the following manner : — The 

 flitches are laid in large wooden troughs, and 

 sprinkled over with bay-salt, after which they 

 are left for twenty-four hours ; then wiped 

 thoroughly dry, and some fresh bay-salt, pre- 

 viously heated by the fire, is rubbed into the 

 flesh until it has absorbed a considerable 

 quantity. This process is continued for four 

 or five successive days, during which the 

 flitches are turned every day ; and if the hog 

 be large, they should be kept in strong brine 

 for five weeks, turning them every day until 

 they are hung up to dry. 



The following receipt has been handed to 

 us by a farmer's wife, in Surrey, for the pick- 

 ling of a pig weighing 18 stone of 14 lbs. : — 

 " A pound and a half of saltpetre pounded, 



