500 FARMING FOR LADIES. [chap. xxiv. 



many people prefer — three months will not be 

 too much, and it cannot in any case he per- 

 fectly done in less than six weeks ; nor will 

 the loss be much less than from one-sixth to 

 one-fifth of the weight, according to the time 

 which has been taken in the process. 



Both bacon and ham, when cured and laid 

 by for use, are subject, if exposed to the air, 

 to attacks from flies, which deposit their eggs 

 in the meat, and thus create maggots which 

 spoil it. To avoid this inconvenience it is 

 not uncommon to put the flitches into chests 

 filled with bran, which, as it will keep them 

 from becoming rusty, as well as guard them 

 from the insects, is an excellent plan; and 

 with regard to hams, nothing can be better 

 than either to cover them closely with strong 

 paper, or, still more effectually, to sew them 

 up in a coarse linen bag, and wash it over 

 thickly with lime-water. 



Pigs are not very subject to disease : the 

 most common aj-e surfeit, occasioned by allow- 

 ing them to gorge themselves ; and eruptions 

 of the skin, called mange, which is generally 

 caused by want of air and cleanliness in the 

 sties, though sometimes by food of a heat- 



