trimmed and taken to the cellar where the) are laid on a 

 bench and pumped at various points at a uniform pressure of 

 40 Ibs. per square inch with a pickle made of, salt, 50 parts, 

 granulated saltpetre 5, dry antiseptic, i\ <?., cane sugar (in 

 winter only) 5 parts. To these substances 20 gallons of water 

 are added and stirred till all the material is dissolved. The 

 strength determined by the salinometer should be 95. If it 

 indicates less add more salt until it indicates 0,5. The 

 sides are wiped with a portion of the pickle used for 

 pumping and are then laid on the cellar floor. A mixture 

 of equal quantities of saltpetre and dry antiseptic is then 

 sprinkled over the whole of the inside or cut surfaces, 

 with a sieve. Salt finely ground is then sprinkled over the 

 same surface, and the sides are now permitted to lie in 

 that condition for 7 or 8 days when it will be cured and may 

 then be washed and baled for transport, or the sides may 

 be washed and dried as " pale dried bacon," or they may be 

 smoked and sold as smoked bacon. If wanted in the pale 

 dried state the sides are hung up in a ventilated drying room 

 heated to a temperature of 8oF with a steam pipe, and kept 

 there until quite dry. Smoked bacon is produced by hanging 

 the sides in a smoke store for about 3 days where it is ex- 

 posed to the smoke and fumes given off by smouldering hard- 

 wood saw dust. The smoke store must be well ventilated. 



1.143. A simpler method is to make a pickle consisting 

 of 5 Ibs. of common salt, \ Ib. of saltpetre and 2 gallons of 

 cold water, to which \ Ib. of sugar may be added. Into this 

 pickle the whole or cut up carcase is kept dipped for 3 days 

 at a fairly uniform temperature of 5O C F, and then dry salting 

 is done for 9 days, or in the case of big animals up to 

 12 days. 



1.144. The most important points in the curing of bacon 

 and ham are, (ij cleanliness of all the operations (2) uni- 

 formity of temperature of the cellar and (3) evenness of 

 density of the pickle used, Bacon and ham curing is 



