62 



Theory — Cotton. 



Vol. III. 



bought a lot of 2,500 lbs., raised in Buck.'^ 

 county. The hogs were fed on a clean board 

 floor, with Indian meal ; they had an abund- 

 ance of water. No one could desire finer or 

 sweeter meat. A few years since, I put up 

 some pork fattened on sweet apples, with tlic 

 exception of the last two weeks, during which 

 time, they were corn fed ; and the pork wat 

 as sweet, solid, and fine as any I ever saw. 

 The hogs roamed at'* large in the orchard un- 

 til I put them up to be ted on corn. 



Receipt for Curing Pork and Hams. 



As soon as the pork becomes cool I cut and 

 sort it, taking great care to have the tubs per- 

 fectly sweet and clean. In cutting, I take 

 out all tlie spare ribs, and make pickled pork 

 of all the side between the ham and shoul- 

 ders; cutting it into pieces of suitable size 

 for family use. I trim the hams and shoulders 

 ■well. I cover the bottom of the tub with rock 

 salt, and then put in a layer of pork, nicely 

 packed ; then cover this layer with .salt, and 

 so on, until the tub is filled. I use rock salt, 

 and very bountifully. In six or eight days 

 make a pickle of salt and cold water, as strong 

 as possible, and cover the pork previously 

 salted with it. It will then keep for use for 

 years if you choose. 



In preparing the hams and .shoulders, I 

 weigh several, to come at the probable weight 

 of the whole. They are packed with great 

 care, in suitable tubs. My process is to sprin- 

 kle some coarse salt at the bottom ; then pack 

 in the hams and shoulders firmly, side by side, 

 being careful not to put the back of one flat 

 on the top of another. The spaces are filled 

 up with chines, liocks, and jowls. To about 

 every 300 weight of meat I take thirty pounds 

 of rock salt, one pound of saltpetre, and four- 

 teen pounds brown sugar, or half a gallon 

 of good molasses, (generally the latter.) Take 

 as much pure water as will cover the meat, 

 put it in a clean vessel, add the above articles, 

 boil it, removing the scum as it rises, and when 

 no more rises set it to cool, after which pour it 

 on the meat until it is covered 3 or 4 inches. 

 If the hams are small, weighing from 12 to 15 

 lbs., let them remain in the pickle five weeks — 

 if from 15 to 25, six weeks — if from 25 to 45, 

 seven weeks. When you remove them for the 

 purpose of smoking, put them in clean, cold 

 water for two or three hours. If there is too 

 much salt or saltpetre adhering to the sur- 

 face of the hams, the water will take it of!! 

 The smoke should be made of clean green 

 hickory. A fire should be built only in dry 

 weather. And when the meat has acquired 

 a yellow tinge, not red or black, they are re- 

 moved, and hung up in a dark place where 

 they are not disturbed by flies or vermin. 

 David Comfout. 



Byberry, 7th mo., 1836. ' 



For llie Farmeig' Cabinet. 



Theory. 



No man, however much he may repudiate 

 theory, engages in any work without first 

 having the theory of it established in his mind. 

 Theory precedes practice as thought precedes 

 action. One fiirmer spreads his manure a 

 long time before he ploughs it in; another 

 ploughs it under as it is spread, and another 

 uses it as a top-dressing, while some are par- 

 ticular as to the time of the moon, when dung 

 is put on the soil. Each has his theory and 

 acts agreeably to it, and his success is not 

 dependent on his having no ihcnry at all, 

 but on his theory being in' accordance with 

 sound reason ; for there is always a reason 

 why one way of doing a thing is better than 

 another. Some allege that every thing that 

 is printed about agriculture is mere theory, 

 and therefore to be disregarded ; those who 

 entertain this opinion certainly maintain a 

 very unsound theory, and the sooner they sift 

 all the knowledge they possess and have 

 gained by their own individual and unaided 

 exertions, from what they have obtained by 

 reading and conversation with others, the 

 sooner they will ascertain the sum total of 

 their ignorance, which it is expected will so 

 alarm them that they will see the necessity 

 of rubbing some of the roughest of it off. 



O. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Cotton. 



Cotton is planted and treated pretty much 

 in the same way that Indian corn is, except- 

 ing only, that the stalks stand separately, as 

 it branches out considerably. It is a very 

 delicate plant and requires great kindness in 

 the treatment of it. It delights in a high 

 temperature, and flourishes most under a 

 burning sun. When the pods ripen and open, 

 they exhibit the most beautiful sight imagin- 

 able. They ripen progressively, and the 

 picking is continued till frost or cold weather 

 suspends it. The seeds are foimd in all stages 

 from the perfectly ripe and fully developed 

 down to the immature, which won't vegetate. 

 Some of the best planters who understand 

 their true interests, have the fully ripe and 

 perfectly developed seeds selected bv hand, 

 from the great ma.*s, and preserved so as not 

 to heat or ferment, for planting; carefully re- 

 jecting those that are imperfect. In this par- 

 ticular they act wisely, and it is said that 

 some who pursue this plan have accumulated 

 large fortunes by it : for plants produced from 

 perfect seeds are much more thrifty and vigo- 

 rous, and produce more cotton, and that of a 

 finer and a better (juality, tiian t!ie inferior, 

 immature seeds produced from the same plant. 

 It requires from five to six bushels of seed to 



