THE GENESEE FARMER. 



53 



WHAT SHALL I DO WITH MY PIG. 



The question that herds this item was addressed 

 o us by a literary gentleman who had just come 

 n possession of the carcase of a fat pig, weight 

 ibout 200 lbs., more or less, which he professed to 

 aiow as little what to do with as the man who 

 von the elephant knew what to do with his prize. 

 iVhether our friend won his pig in a raffle, or came 

 mnestly by him by right of inheritance, we know 

 lot. We think he could not have purchased it, and 

 he reason, we think, is, that he is a newspaper 

 (ditor. But no matter; he had got the pig, and 

 he question is — What shall he do with it? As a 

 ike accident may happen to some other gentleman, 

 inr pig-knowledge may be useful to some others in 

 ike distress. Therefore, we let our light shine. 



The first operation with a dead pig is to take off 

 he head, pretty well up to the shoulders, by out- 

 ing the flesh with a sharp knife, and the bone with 

 m ax. Out off the ears as close as possible ; di- 

 r ide the jowls from the upper part of the head, on 

 , line'with the mouth, by knife and ax. These are 

 ixcellent salted and smoked, or they may go into 

 'head cheese." This is made of the upper part 

 »f the head, with the "souse," or else it goes into 

 he oven for " baked pig's head," in which case two 

 nches of the snout must be cut off for souse. 

 ?he next cut is to sever the ribs close to the back- 

 bone along each side, and take out the backbone 

 or roasting. Now cut the leaf- fat loose from the 

 ibs forward, and seize it with a strong grip and 

 mil it and the kidney out, and then, with a knife 

 nserted under the ribs, cut them loose with as lit- 

 le meat as possible. Now cut off both hams, and 

 hen cut them apart, taking out the tail piece 

 vedge shaped, and trim the hams to a handsome 

 hape, with only a short leg on each. Now cut 

 he shoulders off in the same way, taking out quite 

 i chunk of the fat meat of the back between them, 

 rhen cut up the sides, if wanted for pickled pork, 

 a sizes to suit; if intended for "side bacon," 

 eave them whole in two pieces. If your pig is not 

 arge, and you want fresh roasts, you need not take 

 »ut the backbone, but cut it with portions of the 

 ibs and sides into suitable sized roasting-pieces. 

 f your pig is very fat, and as lard is worth more 

 ban pork, trim the joints and sides closely, and 

 iut it up fine for lard. These with the leaf must 

 >e put in a kettle over a slow fire, so as not to 

 jurn, without water, and cooked till all the water 

 s wholly evaporated, and the scraps thoroughly 

 jooked. Such lard will keep sweet. 



It will be most convenient for you to dry salt 

 pour bacon. First sprinkle a little saltpeter — 4 oz. 

 ;o 100 lbs. of meat — and then rub half a gill to a 

 rill of molasses upon each joint, and let them lay 

 i day or two ; then rub them with fine, hot salt — 

 5 lbs. to 100 lbs. of meat — and then lay them upon 

 the floor or on a table as many days as a joint 

 weighs pounds, rubbing them over once in the 

 time. Salt the side-pork in the same way, and 

 afterward pack it in brine as strong as salt will 

 make it. 



When the joints are ready to smoke, brush off 

 all the loose salt, or rub it off with a wet cloth, but 

 do not put them in water, and sprinkle them well 

 with red pepper. Smoke them with any sweet 

 wood, and be sure never to heat them nor to make 



a smoke wet days, Let your smoke-house be open 

 for the smoke to escape, and do not hurry the busi- 

 ness, and you will have sweet bacon. It will take 

 two or three weeks to smoke a ham of 1G lbs. 

 weight. Never use rotten wood. After your 

 joints are smoked to suit you, put each in a loose 

 cotton bag, and hang up the joint by the string, 

 not by the bag, in a cool, dry room, and your hams 

 will keep for years. — New York Tribune. 



NOTES FROM MAINE. 



"Peas and Potatoes on the same Land for 

 Hogs." — Eds. Genesee Farmer : — Under the above 

 quotation, in the January number, page 18, you ask 

 a question' (asked you by "one of the best and 

 most intelligent farmers") of the readers of the 

 Genesee Farmer, to this effect : What do you think 

 of planting early potatoes and peas to be fed to 

 hogs upon the ground where grown — the hogs do- 

 ing their own harvesting, cooking and milling, and 

 fattening themselves, besides tilling and enriching 

 the land ? 



This seems to be an important improvement, 

 especially with those who grow pork largely ; and, 

 if this thing can be so done economically, it will be 

 advantageous to many who can not raise pork to a 

 profit only on a small scale ; that is, hogs enough 

 to consume the refuse materials which are seem- 

 ingly only suitable for hogs, — which every farm 

 devoted to mixed husbandry produces. 



The editor of the Neio England Farmer, in 

 speaking of making compost, sometime in 1861, 

 says it is better to fork it over by hand than to 

 have the hogs root it over, because man-labor is 

 cheaper than hog-labor with him. His suggestion 

 was copied into many of the agricultural papers 

 without a dissenting voice, as far as seen, while 

 several spoke of it favorably to their readers. 



To fat hogs expeditiously and profitably, they 

 must only " eat and sleep." Hence, to have to dig 

 potatoes, to get their drink, besides gathering the 

 peas, will be little if any short of work. Different 

 localities will make some difference economically 

 in this w r ay of fattening hogs. But, unless there is 

 some fattening property lost by letting the peas 

 ripen and taking the potatoes out of the ground, it 

 would be an expensive mode with us in Maine. 



The succeeding cops after peas and corn are 

 better than after potatoes almost invariably, and 

 where corn and potatoes are grown side by side 

 with equal amount of manure, the corn getting one 

 the most hoeings, even the grass, after a crop of 

 wheat, oats or rye has been taken off without any 

 more manure being applied, will show just the 

 bounds of the corn piece for years. As to turnips, 

 they are not grown sufficiently extensive to prac- 

 tically know much about their exhausting tenden- 

 cies, butpotatoes are practically known and gener- 

 ally considered an exhausting crop with us. 



Elm Tree Farm, Maine. O. W. TRUE. 



To Drive Away Rats. — Some six or eight 

 years since, my wife, in order, as she said, to sweet- 

 en the cellar, sprinkled a solution of copperas over 

 the bottom; since which I have never observed 

 any signs of rats in the cellar. Her custom is to 

 use the solution two or three times during the 

 summer, sprinkled on the cellar floor, and I am 

 fully convinced that rats do not like it. — D., Gates. 



