204 How THE FARM PAYS. 



or the hair becomes set and cannot be scraped off. This of course 

 injures it for sale to private customers or to the best dealers. I find 

 180 degrees to be the proper temperature for the water. The carcass 

 should hang where it will not be frozen for twenty-four hours. "Where a 

 farmer has ten or twenty hogs to dress during the season, he will find it 

 convenient to have a shed or place properly provided and furnished 

 for this work, with a boiler and scalding vat. 



My method of curing is as follows: When the meat has been properly 

 cut up it is well rubbed with salt and left on the benches to drain for 

 twenty-four hours. This removes the moisture from it. Seven and 

 one-half pounds of salt, two and one-half pounds of brown sugar, four 

 ounces of saltpeter, are then put in as much water as will dissolve 

 them completely, and two ounces of cayenne pepper is added. The 

 liquid is boiled a few minutes and skimmed and set aside to cool. 

 Meanwhile the meat is rubbed with a mixture of the same, and is 

 closely packed in the barrels or tubs, and the pickle is poured over it 

 until it is covered. In six weeks it is cured and is ready for smoking. 

 It is smoked with hickory brush wood or corn cobs, or both, one hour 

 a day for ten days. The fire is made outside of the smoke-house and 

 the smoke is carried in by a flue, so that it is cooled and does not 

 warm the meat. After ten days the meat is rubbed with pepper and 

 is ready for sale, or if to be kept should be packed in close boxes 

 with wheat chaff or cut straw, and kept in a dry, cool place. 



Hams and bacon are frequently injured by a small beetle, which 

 lays its eggs upon the meat, and when these hatch the small worms 

 bore into the meat and harbor near the bone. This insect is a variety 

 of weevil, a small brown beetle, and the larvae are small white grubs, 

 which are commonly called skippers. It is very important that the 

 meat should be protected against this pest, or it may be damaged so 

 as to spoil it for sale and also injure it for use. There are several 

 ways of doing this. One of the best and the most convenient is to rub 

 the meat well with ground pepper, and then pack it in boxes in oat 

 or wheat chaff or in finely cut hay; a few inches in depth should be 

 covered over the meat, and the box closed tightly. It should be kept 

 in a dry, cool place. The dry packing will absorb all the moisture, 

 and prevent the meat from becoming moldy. 



FARM BUILDINGS. 



The styles of farm buildings will of course vary according to the 

 necessities of the farmer, the amount of money he is willing or able 

 to invest, or other conditions. As I have heretofore done in our 

 conversations on other farm work, I will give my own practice in this 



