Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. G49 



tV)i- this pur{>ose, put it in Aveak ].)i-ine for ei<;'lit or teii duvb. Tiien 

 make a brine of fine salt, and have it strong enouij^h to bear up an 

 egg or a potato. Add some saltpetre and some sugar, and scakl the 

 brine as often as a thick scum ap])eai's upon the surface. 



Mr. Foster. — I liappen to have a recipe in my pocket : To lOU 

 ])Ounds beef take nine pounds salt, two pounds sugar, two ounces 

 salt})etre, two ounces black pepper ; make a brine, and pour on hot. 

 I first put the beef in weak brine to remove tlie blood, and in this 

 wav have kept it good into Se]->teniber. 



Dr. F. M. Ilexamer, — I have used the same recipe without the 

 pepper, and find that it keeps the meat in excellent condition ; when 

 more salt was used it would ])e diw and hard. 



Mr. Francis Collins, of Morris ville, Pennsylvania, contributed the 

 following: — For every 100 pounds of meat (pork or beef), take four 

 pounds of fine salt, four ounces of ground saltpetre, and one pound 

 oi common brown sugar. (This amount of salt will keep meat the 

 whole year, if it is ordinarily fat, but it ndght take a little more where 

 the meat is nearly all lean.) Hub the meat well, taking care that all 

 parts have a good coat the first time. Lay the pieces on a board with 

 the skin side down, sprinkling a little coarse salt on the board. As 

 soon as they have taken in all the salt, rub again, but putting most 

 on the flesh side. When the meat has taken in all the salt, wash the 

 pieces off Avitli a cloth wrung out of hot water. 



lIoiiACE Ctkkeley's Black Meadow. 



The Chairman called attention to the fact that Dr. Hexamer, of 

 ^'ew Castle, Xew York, a near neighbor of Mr. Greeley's, had 

 lu-ought from Chappaqua farm specimens of the swamp muck, and 

 he asked the doctor to say something on the subject. 



Dr. F. M. Hexamer remarked, that the specimens were from two 

 fields of Mr. Greeley's estate, one lying along the margin of the hill, 

 and the other lower down. They were both a ])ortion of the original 

 swamp, which has been thoroughly drained. The first received the 

 wash from the high ground, and by aid of this mineral substance 

 produced during the past season a really excellent crop of corn. The 

 other field was covered with gravel, and thus the upward action of 

 the water through the peat was accelerated, and a fine crop is the 

 consequence. That so little earth as was added would make so great 

 a difterence, was hardly to be believed by those who did not witness 

 the ]iroi:>f. I have seen, continued the speaker, such soil s])oiled by 



