126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



denominator. This done, you would havn flic 

 cubic contents ot' a cylinder equal to the cask in 

 cubic inches, 'i'o bring this dcuomiiiation into 

 gallons, it would be necessary to divide by the 

 number C:51, this being the number ot cubic in- 

 ches in a Wine oallon. — But to save this long 

 process of multiplication and division, adopt this 

 rule, viz. t'> mxdliply h\j the Quotient of a multi- 

 plier divided btj l!ie diiisor by a7iic/i tite product 

 prnduccd by such multiplier is proposed to be di- 

 vided, and you xiill have the same result. 



Now iW'is the Quotient ot 7854 divided by 

 2."^!. Tliereroro multiplying by 34 produces 

 the same result as to multiply by "7854 and di- 

 viding by 2;M — taking care in the product to cut 

 ofi as many decimals as there are in the multi- 

 plier '780 1. And these are the reasous lor the 

 3d and 4th steps otMhe rule. And the result is 

 the contents of the cask in gallons and decimal 

 parts Ihorcof — Thus we have the reasons of 

 the rule. HUD. ALIA.S 4 BBLS. 



Fro^n llift Amprican Farmer. 

 TO CURE L AC o:S.— Virginia vs. Burlington. 

 llichmond Co. (Va.) Nor. 24, 18.11. 



Mr.. SKiKXF.r, — Having seen in the 20th No. of 

 the 3d Vol. of your American Farmer, a refusal of 

 oa^who has been specially called on to com- 

 mOTTcatc his knowledge or mode of curing Bur- 

 lington hams, 1 caimot longer refrain from giving 

 .such information as 1 posse??, iu curing hams ac- 

 cording to our Virginia mode, as practised by me 

 lor many years, and which on trial 1 am induced 

 to believe, will be found fully equal, if not su- 

 perior, to the Burlington, or even the celebrated 

 Westphalia. This I do with pleasure, having no 

 secret to preserve, being no " trucker or trad- 

 er." 



My practice is as follows: first salt the pork 

 by giving it a jjrctty good salting, and pack it 

 away on boards or planks, with a slope sutficient 

 to let the brine run oH". In this situation it lies 

 ten or twelve days, when it is taken up, and each 

 piece wiped dry, with a coarse cloth, and to 

 each ham is added a Iicaping tea spoonful of the 

 best chrystalizcd salt pctre, by sprinkling over it, 

 and rubbing it well in with the hand. It is then 

 re-salted again, and packed away on planks or 

 boards, laid horizontally, or in tight casks, if 

 -.ou have them convenient, ;is it may then be an 

 •idvantage to retain or preserve all the brine 

 ;.ou can: whereas the first brine I have found 

 t'rom experience to be of great injury, as it 

 rends to putrescence, and should by no means 

 be reabsorbed by the meat laying in it after be- 

 ing extracted by (he salt ; as 1 conceive it to be 

 'hat which produces the bugs and skippers in 

 the mrst after it has been smoked. The lime 

 ■jf putting on the salt-petre is of much more im- 

 po." mcc than i* suppo-ed by those who have not 

 ^nndo the trial, lor ii'pnt on at the first salting, 

 :lie meat is always dry, hard, and too salt; but 

 why it has this eifect, i am not chymist enough 

 to determine. On giving the meat a second salt- 

 ing 1 add to the salt as much brown sugar or 

 molasses as will moisten or damp it, and as much 

 ')f the common or red pepper as will give the 

 salt quite a red appearance. The pods are first 

 dried beliarc a lire or on a griddle, and then 

 [lounded tolerably fine in a mortar. The meat 

 then lies about 5 or G weeks when each piece 

 should be rubbed well with hickory ashes, and 

 hung u[) to smoke with tlie hociv downivards, 

 which pr->vcuts its dripping and thereby retains 



Its juices. The Liverpool sack-salt is what I 

 have generally used, and I think it is much to 

 be preferred to any other. 



The smoke fs generally made from chips 

 raked u[i from the wood-[)ile, with a little of 

 the dust, dotted, or rotten wood with it, to pre- 

 vent a blaze or cle:ir tire, and too great a heat, 

 saw dust of hickory or oak is still better to 

 make the smoke, to which is added two or three 

 pods of the red pepper each d.ay. 



After it is suflicicntly smoked, which it will be 

 in live or six weeks, if regularly attended to, it 

 IS taken down and packed away in casks or 

 brtics, with hickory a-hes, covering the meat 

 entirely with them, and between each layer is 

 put some thin slips of lath or boards to prevent 

 each layer of meat pressing down and touch- 

 ing each other, and in the course of the summer 

 it is taken out and sunned once or twice. 



If it is intended lor exportation, bran is the 

 tiling to pack it in, for shipping, especially if it 

 is intended for a southern market. By this 

 mode of curing my bacon has got the reputation 

 (by those who have cat of it,) to be equal if 

 not superior to any they have ever tasted. But 

 I concur with. Mr Coxe, the writer in your 

 20th No. of the third Vol. that " a great deal 

 depends upon the nature of the flesh of the sev- 

 eral breeds of hogs" and the manner of raising 

 and feeding. From the experience which I 

 have had 1 think a cross of one-fourth of the 

 Chinese, on our common stock, which is a mix- 

 ture of the English breed including the i'arkin- 

 son, which we have among us, is the most del- 

 icate in flavour and taste, and easier to be rais- 

 ed and kept fat, consuming less grain. The 

 meat of those which are sufTcred to feed in the 

 fields and woods, with a little feeding w ith grain 

 until they are put up to fatten, are far su])erior 

 to those which are raised in the sty, and fed on 

 grain and slops, as is the northern custom. — 

 Their meat is much larger and co.irser than 

 ours, and may answer very well for s:>lling and 

 barreling up as pork, but by no means ansivers 

 as well for bacon, being too coarse and strong in 

 flavour. The manner in which our hogs are 

 r.iisod and fed, and their size, I consider the 

 [)rincipal reason why our \'irginia hams have 

 been so much approved of, both in this country 

 and in Eurojic. I have tried various ways to 

 laitcn hogs, after they have been put up fur 

 close fatting, but have never found any thing 

 to ecpial Indian corner meal; turnips, ])otatoes, 

 peas, pumpkins &:c. will do very well when they 

 arc first jnit up, but must be let"t off some weeks 

 before they are killed, in order to harden their 

 fat, and give it a superior flavour, by using In- 

 dian corn alone, with a little salt water, or a 

 salt herring once or twice a week. 



To make bacon of the most delicate flavour, 

 tiie hogs should not exceed IGOlbs. in weight, 

 nor 21 mouths in age, and it is for this reason, 

 and the great economy in raising and feeding, 

 as well as preventing their becoming mischiev- 

 ous and troublesome on a farm, that I ajiprove 

 of Col. Taylor's system of killing every hog on 

 the farm every ^ear that is ten months old and 

 upwards, except the breeders. 1 have followed 

 this practice lor about seven years, and have 

 found a considerable prolit in it as hogs kept over 

 two winters, are very un[)rolitable, and their 

 llesh by no means as delicate and sweet. Hogs 

 from 10 to 21 months old, with a little more 

 than the ordinary keeping with us (which is 



very ordinary indeed, as we generally leav 

 them much to prog and shift for themselves 

 will weigh from 120 to 180 lbs. and the sweel 

 est and most delicate flavoured hams ivill not b 

 found to exceed from 10 to 15 lbs. in weiffh 

 even of hogs of their age, and when older the 

 are much coarser and less savourv. 



These, Mr. Skinner, are ray ideas, obtainei 

 from experience and thrown together in a ver' 

 home-spun manner, and should they on trial b< 

 found to please the palates of otliers and bi 

 generally adopted by them, 1 may be benelittec 

 instead of injured, as was apprehended by ; 

 Burlington dealer, for as I sometimes travel Iron 

 home, and am fond of good bacon, I may th( 

 oftencr get a cut of ham after my own mode o 

 curing. And with very great respect, and mi 

 sincere wishes for your success in your verj 

 useful paper, 



I am your most obedient, 



JNO. DARBY. 



THE FARMER. 



BosTo.v .—s.iTURrxiY, ^■or. le, \s-2-2. 



.iDV-A.-NTAGES OF T.\KING AND PATRONlZliNt 

 THE iNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



" Tiicre is that ■svithhohleth more than is ?no ■ i 

 but it tcndeth to poverty.''' — This was a wise sn 

 ing of the wisest of men. We trust, however J 

 that our agricultural brethren of New Englanr \ 

 do not intenil to give practical comments on tli 

 text by withholding patronage from a pap. , 

 devoted almost entirely and exclusively to thei i 

 interests. This would be to lose dollars in sa^ 

 ing cents; and to economize about as unprofita 

 biy as he docs who but half manures his lanl 

 or allows but half the requisite quantity of sect i 

 when he sows his wheat, rye, clover, &.c. I 



It is very true that many farmers, whom wc 

 should be happy to enrol on the list of our siilj 

 scribers, may have a very good knowledge u 

 their business, derived principally from espc 

 rience ; and although Dr. Franklin declared ex 

 pcrience was a dear schoolmaster, yet it mu=; 

 be allowed that the said experience gives pret- 

 ty thorough going lessons, and brings them 

 home to men's business and bosoms in such a 

 manner that its admonitions are not easily for, 

 gotten. Dr. Franklin likewise said, in sub- 

 stance, that those persons who would learn no- 

 thing except what they were taught by experi- 

 ence, were fools.* Now this is a hard name, i 

 which we hope will never be correctly applied 

 to any individual farmer, at least within the 

 compass of the circulation of our newspaper. 

 But, the cheapest Tjvay to gain knowledge is to taki. 

 advantage of the experience of others ; and he 

 who refuses to be taught by the experienee of 

 others, if not a fool, is certainly not so wise as 

 he might he. Now the New England Farmer is 

 intended to be a record of the crpcriencc of hus- 

 bandmen in every branch of agriculture and do- 

 mestic economy. That there will be faults and 



* We bcbcTC Dr. Franklin's adage iras, '• Experi- 

 ence 13 a dear school, but fools will learn in uo ether." 



