THE GENESEE FARMER. 



47 



within their reach. The snow prevents the admis- 

 ■sion of any more, and the plants become diseased, 

 and soon after the snow melts off in tlie spring they 

 die ; the leaves turning white, resembling narrow 

 white tape. One of the essential conditions of 

 the life of all organized beings, whether vegetable 

 or animal, is a swpplg of oxygen. But when the 

 ground is deeply frozen before the show comes, 

 then the plants cease to grow, and require neither 

 oxygen, nor any other element. If the ground is 

 nut frozen when the first six, eight, or twelve inches 

 of snow comes, the passage of a heavy roller over 

 the snow will so compress it that the ground will 

 freeze by the first cold weather, almost as readily 

 as if there was no snow on the field ; and the 

 plants Jiyiernatey as it were, and will come out 

 bright and healthy as the snow disappears. I 

 think, Messrs. Editors, you have hundreds of far- 

 mer readers who can corroborate the above views. 

 Kansas Wheat.— The editor of the Rochester 

 Express^ saw a sample of wheat in Kansas weigh- 

 ing sixty-five lbs. per bushel, and yielding thirty 

 bushels to the acre. Last week, I received a letter 

 ifrom Col. Cate, of Northfield, N. H., saying, that, 

 from one bushel sowing of bald winter wheat, he 

 raised twenty-four bushels, weighing sixty-five and 

 a, half lbs. per bushel. This is at the rate of over 

 thirty-six bushels per acre, as we generally sow 

 from one and a half to two bushels of seed per acre. 

 (XlFrom the above, it will be seen that down here in 

 .the region of ice and granite, we rather out-do 

 iJKansas in the wheat line. levi baktlett. 



X\ Warner, N. H. 



1 HAMPSHIEE BACON. 



;i Eds. Genesee Farmer : — The following is a 

 jiaiethod of preparing and curing bacon, with which 

 jl have been practically familiar, in Hampshire, 

 IJEngland. 



",l)i ■ Uogs of the most desirable size for bacon, range 

 ;ifrom ope hundred and sixty to two hundred and 

 J twenty lbs. The hair is singed off.* The gambrel 

 J is not used for suspending the carcass, unless the 

 Jtfaams are to be taken out, which is seldom the case ; 

 • put this is done by means of a double hook inserted 

 , In the openings of the gammon or pelvic bones. 

 ! This method secures fiitches of a better shape than 

 j jwhen the legs are strained back. The carcasses are 

 ^ put out on tlie folio vvu.g day. Atter removing the 

 ■ bead, two incisions are made down the back, from 

 . lube neck to the tail, as deep as practicable, one on 

 ^ 3ach side of the center, and about an inch from it. 

 , The carcass is turned over, and the ribs and other 

 \ pones cut through on either side of the spine, and 



! * This is done by burning with wheat straw. The hog is laid 

 bn the belly, with the legs stretched out, and the head from the 

 wind ; or on the side, In which case a bunch of straw is placed 

 >etween the legs. Straw is then shaken lightly over the carcass, 

 )ay from nine to twelve inches in thickness. The Are is applied at 

 lie head, so that the flame is blown from the straw, in order that 



' it may burn more slowly. The head, too, is not so liable to scorch 

 IS the gammons. After the straw is all burnt, the ashes are swept 

 3ff, and a fresh quantity of straw is burned on such parta as are 

 cot suflSciently singed. Uare must be taken to avoid scorching. 

 lAiter this the carcass is turned, and the process repeated on the 



• pther side. 

 I After the hair is all singed off, the hog ia cleaned by washing 



'' nod scraping with a knife. 



close to it. The flesh is cuti,so as to meet the incis- 

 ions previously made. The part thus removed is 

 called the chine. This, however, is not always taken 

 out, but the back-bone should be. For this purpose, 

 but one incision is made down the back, and that 

 one in the center. The bones on the inside are 

 cut in the same manner as stated above, and the 

 flesh is cut close to the bone, on either side, through 

 to the one incision. The sjjare-rib, including the 

 first four or five ribs, with a slice from the shoulder, 

 is taken otf. A slice from the gammon, including 

 the first bone to the joint, the tender-loin, and 

 about two inches, from the ends next to the spine, 

 of the remaining ribs, with a part of the lean meat 

 attached, are taken off. A strip, two or three 

 inches wide, along the lower side of the flitch, and 

 quite through it, is cut away. The legs are cutoff; 

 the blade-bone is taken out, and the ribs sawed 

 nearly through the middle, and beat back so as to 

 make the flitch as flat and even as possible. It is 

 then ready for curing. 



A small quantity of salt is sprinkled over it, and 

 it is allowed to remain till the following day, when 

 the saltpetre, finely pounded, is applied at the rate 

 of half a lb. to the flitches of a hog weighing two 

 hundred lbs. A liberal quantity of salt is sprinkled 

 over the surface and the parts where the legs were 

 taken off, and the flitches are stacked up, twenty 

 or more in a pile, to any convenient height, and 

 any number of piles. In two days from this time 

 it is shifted. The top flitch, after thoroughly rub- 

 bing the remaining salt into every part, is put at 

 the bottom in another place, and a fresh quantity 

 of salt applied. The next flitch is removed, being 

 treated in the same manner — and so on through 

 the pile, the one previously at the bottom being 

 now at the top. The next pile is shifted to the 

 place occupied by the first, and managed in the 

 same way, and so on for any quantity. This pro- 

 cess should be repeated once in three days for ten 

 days or two weeks from the first spripkling of salt, 

 according to the size of the bacon. A fresh sup- 

 ply of salt may not be needed every time ; but 

 the rubbing and shifting are necessary. The re- 

 maining salt should now be swept clean off, and 

 the bacon removed to the smoke-house. This should 

 be so constructed as to allow the smoke to pass off 

 freely, as the confined, smothering process of smok- 

 ing gives the meat an unpleasant fiavor. From 

 seven to ten days' smoking is sutficient. 



The points requiring attention, in order to suc- 

 cess, are thorough salting in as short a time as pos- 

 sible, and smoking in a well-ventilated house. In 

 this country, it is not easy to preserve it in good 

 condition, on account of the fly, and its liability to 

 become yellow and rancid. The difliculty may, in 

 some measure, be overcome, by packing it, when 

 quite dry., in dry oats or straw, and keeping it in a 

 cool and dry place. The flesh of some hogs, how- 

 ever, is of such a strong flavor, that no process of 

 curing, nor care in preserving, wiU result in the 

 production of good bacon. john bbadfield. 



Rochester, Jan. 1860. 



CxTEE FOB Heaves in Horses. — Common tar, 

 mixed with a tablespoonful of ginger, made into a 

 ball, with a little shorts. Given daily. The very 

 worst cases have been cured by this simple remedy, 

 and the cure is of a permanent character. — ^P., 

 Richmond Hill, G. W. 



