AGRICULTURAL ZEAL. 



251 



Hue from a lowor story or annthcr house, all 

 our former care will be lost — a dam p will settle 

 0)1 the bacon, and it will have a bitter flavor. 



" Mr. A , of Baltimore, taught me never 



to m?.ko a smoke iii damp weathar — a prac- 

 tice so much followed; for, as he observed, 

 his meat gained no color, but got a bad tasle. 

 I am satislied he was correct ; and he had 

 large experience, as he followed smoking for 

 gain. One good fire pei' diem will smoke the 

 pieces exactly in the same thnes they were 

 salted, viz. hams 4 weeks, shoulders 3 weeks, 

 other pieces 2 weeks. When the bacon is 

 smoked and all returned to the smoke-house, 

 a floor, if not laid before, should now be laid 

 on the joist ; by this means rats wdl be pre- 

 vented from descending on the bacon, and the 

 fieat of the sun will bo moderated, so that the 

 bacon will not drip in sunnner heats. Dark- 

 ness and coolness ai'e necessaiy to preserve 

 the bacon from flies ; it luay there hang in 



perfect safety till wanted. But a prudent 

 housekeeper will inspect his meat in May and 

 June, and then he will see the quality of bis 

 meat ; that which is not corn-fed will crack 

 and offer places of deposit for skippers, v.-liich 

 should bo filled up with ashes;, and, if any 

 are already deposited, let the ashes bo taken 

 out of the hearth as hot as fire, and put in. — 

 The meat that is corn-fed w.ill be close all 

 around the cut. A ham of the first kind will 

 shrink in boiling, and cut but a poor figure ou 

 the table, while the latter will swell to round- 

 ness, and overlook the dish — will look as 

 proud, if not as warlike, as .luvenal's lobster. 

 When the sharp cai-ver enters the cover, tho 

 essence will flow in a stream and fill the 

 whole dish — a most delightful sauce ! Such 

 a dish, with boiled poultry and savoys, though 

 often repeated, never loses its relish with the 

 laborious husbanthnan, and he seldom thinks 

 of any other to set before his jruest." 



Thus, then, reader, we have told you what is necessary, as far as depends on 

 yourself, to have hams such as we will venture to say the Queen of England 

 never saw, of her own curing. The next thing to be attended to is, how to pre- 

 serve them from flies and skippers ; and, hnally, hoiv to cook them. But we are 

 pressed for room, and it is time enough for that before your meat is smoked. 

 It shall not be forgotten. In the mean time, however, a few more last words in 



Vindication of the Rights of the Housewife ! — On this head we may repeat 

 that, while we shall ever claim from the ladies the performance of duties prop- 

 erly within their province, we shall as studiously resist the imposition of bur- 

 dens which are alike incompatible with their position in the domestic circle, 

 and the delicacy of their constitution. We mean then to say that the superin- 

 tendence of the cutting up, and salting, and smoking the meat for the year's 

 family consumption, docs not properly belong to the lady of the house ; although 

 we know that, time immemorial, this task has been, in many neighborhoods, 

 imposed on them. It is a heavy, coarse, laborious operation, which ought to 

 be done under the eye of the master. It is his duty to prepare everything for 

 the hands of the cook, and it is not until everything for the table is placed away 

 under lock and key, that the wife should be called on for her attention. 



There is good sense in the homely lines of old Father Tusser. Let both hus- 

 l>and and wife take the hint : 



" Good usage, with knciwledge and quiet withal. 

 Makes huswife to shine as sun on the wall ; 

 What husband provideth vvilh money, his drudge 

 The huswife must look to, which way it doth trudge." 



AGnicui.iCRAi. Ze.m,. — At a late meeting in Ireland for the discussion of an agricultural 

 question, there were present from four to five thousand persons. Call a meeting in this 

 country to take measures for compelling law-makers to provide for appropriate instruction 

 for their sons in Agriculture, or for the imposition of a duty on free articles that might bo 

 produced at home, and you would not be able to get as many together as would make the 

 Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries of a "party" meeting! But summon them to 

 attend to fonn a military company, or to take measures for the success of the party, and you 

 would find them flocking in from all quarters, like hogs coming in all directions when, on a 

 frosty momir.g, the swiuohord winds his horn, or cries c-h-o-k-e ! c-h-o-k-c ! c-h-o-k-o ! 

 (C39) 



