330 FIELD AND FERN. 



the 141b. stone came in, and, beginning at 5s. 9d. 

 has varied ever since from 3s. 9d. to 7s. 6d. In 

 Dumfries, during the Peninsular war, at least lis. 

 was made for the 161b. stone; and in the season 

 before last such was the competition that the same 

 quality of pork ruled a shilling dearer there than it 

 did at Belfast. 



Cutting up is a great science, and the flitches must 

 be made to fit and lie level, and then the hams are 

 built on them by layers of three, two, one. Lump 

 salt from Liverpool is chiefly used, and a great weight 

 of it is made on the Cheshire side of the water. The 

 first day they are done in salt only to extract the 

 water, and then in salt and salt-petre. After eight 

 days, they are turned again and dressed with salt 

 simply, and then after lying for another thirteen days 

 they are ready for hanging, or else they never will 

 be. Cumberland curers pursue the same mode, but 

 never allow it to lie in salt more than sixteen days. 

 In America they are apt to oversalt, and they cannot 

 help it, as they must do it immediately. The pork 

 corrupts in a w^arm season, and it stiff'ens in a cold. 

 Here the lard comes out in lumps as soon as it is 

 split, and is melted and put into bladders, and there 

 it is frozen like a board, so that they cannot get a saw 

 into it. Keeping off the brine insures the bacon 

 being mild, and ham is better after eighteen months. 

 To suit the London market and show its ripeness 

 there must be mould on it, but on a four-year-old 

 ham there is no profit. The hams are closed up in 



