No. 12. 



Curing of Bacon. — Time of Uarvesiivg. 



373 



noticed only among the things "that have 

 been." Perhaps I ought to add, that it is 

 necessary on some farms, to subject parts 

 of the land to tillage crops, to clean and clear 

 them of binding grass before adopting this 

 system, which was my case: it must be re- 

 membered that lime is a great auxiliary to 

 this, — the same as to other systems. 



And now, Mr. Editor, aware of a partiality 

 to beet culture for stock, I shall look out for 

 a censorial notice from some ready pen ; ne- 

 vertheless, I shall not be easily driven from 

 my ground. 



W. Penn Kinzer. 



Springlawn Farm, 

 Pequea, Lancaster Co., May, 1841. 



For the Fanners' Cabinet. 

 Curing of Bacon. 



The Editor of the Southern Planter says, 

 in his number for May, that everybody in 

 Virginia knows how to make good bacon, and 

 if any of his northern friends will cross the 

 Potomac, he will satisfy them that the art is 

 confined to the south. What a happy law 

 of our nature it is, that we are all pretty sure 

 to be endowed with enough of self-compla- 

 cency to make us contented with our own 

 ways ! But did the " Planter" ever cross the 

 Delaware — did he ever eat of a real Jersey 

 ham, fed, cured, and cooked in old Glouces- 

 ter? Why, there is as much difference be- 

 tween the rich delicacy of its taste and fla- 

 vour and those of a Virginia ham, as there is 

 between veal cutlet and fried sturgeon — be- 

 tween a young capon and a five year old 

 rooster ! Did he ever taste real Jersey pork? 

 We do not go the whole hog here, in relation 

 to bacon, as they do down south ; they smoke 

 all — we cure the side differently from the 

 ham, shoulder and jowl ; these we smoke, the 

 side we eat as pork. I remember being once 

 very seriously asked, if it was true that we 

 Jerseymen ate a part of our swine's flesh 

 without smoking] and the answer was re- 

 ceived with incredulity ! But this is a di- 

 gression. 



I started, to give friend Botts, through the 

 Cabinet, the Jersey mode of curing hams; 

 and if it is once properly tried, he may lay 

 that of his correspondent " D" quietly on the 

 shelf; but as " D's" receipt will accompany 

 this, the readers of the Cabinet can choose 

 between them. The Jersey mode is — to 

 every 80 lbs. of hams, take 4 ounces brown 

 sugar, 3 ounces saltpetre, and one pint of 

 fine salt ; pulverize and mix them thorough- 

 ly ; rub the hams well, and lay them on 

 boards for 36 or 48 hours ; then pack them in 

 casks, adding two quarts fine salt to every 

 80 lbs. of hams. In 15 days they may be 

 bung up to smoke. 



The Virginia mode is, — " Put to each joint 

 a large tea-spoon-full of saltpetre; rub each 

 piece well with salt on both sides, and pack 

 them away in a hogshead with holes at the 

 bottom, to let off the brine; let them remain 

 for five or six weeks; then take out, brush 

 ofl" the salt, rub well with hickory ashes, and 

 hang each piece in the smoke-house so as not 

 to touch each other. Smoke 8 or 10 days, 

 successively, and occasionally in damp wea- 

 ther; use small chips, but avoid pine." In 

 my opinion, small chips of green hickory or 

 apple trees, form the best material for smok- 

 ing; and the best mode of keeping through 

 summer is to tie up in bags with a little hay 

 on the flesh side, suspending them out of the 

 way of rats and mice. 



If the " Planter" would come over about 

 new-year's, we should be able to show him 

 some real Jersey hogs — like those thirty 

 which were slaughtered last year at the Bur- 

 lington County almshouse, averaging over 

 400 lbs. each ; or tiiose of which Homer 

 Eachus speaks in the number of the Cabinet 

 for iMay, one weighing 966^ lbs. after being 

 neatly butchered, and the three averaging 

 925 lbs., which, although not exactly what 

 we are in the habit of calling "lovely crea- 

 tures," yet well deserve this special notice. 



T. Z. 



Time of Harvesting. 



I COMMENCE cutting my wheat while it is 

 still green, when I find the kernel is out of 

 the milk and about as hard as dough, which 

 might be known by pressing it between the 

 fingers. I do not let it lie on the ground, but 

 bind it in very small sheaves and set them up 

 in stocks, in form of pairs of rafters, the buts 

 far apart, and place two sheaves upon the 

 top for protection. In this way it dries very 

 quick, the sap remaining in the straw afford- 

 ing sufficient nourishment to the kernel to 

 prevent it from shrinking. Thus I find the 

 grain to retain all its farinaceous properties, 

 and the straw makes superior fodder for cat- 

 tle, because it contains all the sap that the 

 wheat does not absorb. Wheat cured in this 

 way thrashes easily, and will not shell out 

 while carrying to the barn. We are not 

 aware how green the crop may be cut, and 

 what a saving is to be effected in a time of 

 mildews by so doing, both the crop and straw 

 being oftentimes preserved from total ruin. — 

 Fuller. 



Neither wet lands, nor stiff clays, nor 

 very poor grounds, will repay by their crops 

 the labour required on a crop of corn. Better 

 buy corn, and bestow the labour on other 

 objects. 



