1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



47 



taining societies, lectures and other institutions of 

 the day, in books, furniture and in various other 

 ways, in obedience to the demands of custom. 



Let us compare the results of farming with the 

 results of other vocations in our own community. 

 Our town has been settled more than two hundred 

 yeai's ; upon inquiry, I can hear of but one physi- 

 cian who became wealthy by his profession during 

 that period, and }et we have had many men of 

 learning and talents who have worked thirty or 

 forty years harder than any farmer among us — 

 have ijeen more exposed by day and night to the 

 inclemency of the weather — have lost more sleep 

 and undergone more anxiety. We have now an 

 intelligent physician who has labored more than 

 forty years most indefatigably among us. His la- 

 bors have been most abundant by day and night, 

 in season and out of season — and he has the con- 

 fidence of the community to as great a degree as 

 any man in the State. 



Has his business been more profitable to him, in 

 a pecuniary view, than that of many of our far- 

 mers ? How is it with physicians of our acquain- 

 tance in other tOAvns ? Have they grown rich by 

 their profession ? How is it in our cities ? A few, 

 eminent by talent, or peculiarly favored by fortune, 

 have grown wealthy by their professional labors. 

 But not more than one in ten does more than gain 

 a comfortable livelihood. We must judge, not by 

 exceptional cases but by average results. Wlio 

 ever heard of a New England clergyman becom- 

 ing rich by his salary ? In former times, when 

 clergymen Avere settled for life, many of them 

 owned small farms, and labored with their hands 

 to eke out their salaries. As these farms were gen- 

 erally situated in villages, some of them realized 

 profit from the increased value of their lands. 

 Some have married Avealth. But I have yet to 

 hear of a clergyman who has grown even moder- 

 ately wealthy, by his profession alone. 



A few men of superior talents do most of the 

 legal business. Some of these grow rich by their 

 professional business alone. But is it so with the 

 majority of our lawyers ? Are not most of them 

 eager to engage in extra professional business ? 

 They become agents of corporations. They seek 

 public offices. They engage in speculations. Some 

 of them even become fiirmers. Probably not more 

 than ten per cent, of them become Avealthy by 

 their profession. Most mechanics work early and 

 late. They generally obtain a comfortable living. 

 Some accumulate property by extraordinary skill 

 or diligence, but I think they do not in general 

 exceed farmers in this respect. 



The manufacturer sometimes acquires wealth 

 for a time with great rapidity. But lo ! there 

 comes a change. The kind of goods which he is 

 making goes out of fashion ; the raw material rises 

 in value. Some new machine is invented which 

 will produce the same goods at a much cheaper 

 rate, and in order to sustain himself, he must have 

 an entire new set of macliinery. The tariff" is 

 changed, and foreign goods undersell him. If he 

 did not make money rapidly between the crises 

 that so frequently occur, he could not carry on his 

 business at all. When business is good, he must 

 put on all his force, and drive day and night. Now 

 think of the care and anxiety to which he is sub- 

 ject. And the operatives — how often are they 

 thrown out of work, and left in an anxious aiid 

 starving condition ? What farmer who owns his 



hundred acres, with comfortable buildings and a 

 decent stock of cattle, would exchange situations 

 with the employer or employed in manufacturing 

 life? 



Farming, then, tends to promote health and lon- 

 gevity. It is a safe and certain business when 

 compared with any other vocation, and its pecu- 

 niary results compare fovorably with the results 

 of and other business. All these elements should 

 be taken into estimation in making up the profit 

 and loss account. Should not the farmer, then, be 

 contented with his lot ? j. R. 



Concord, Dec. n, 186L 



For the New England Farmer. 



SALTING AND PRESERVING HAMS 

 AND BEEP. 



I notice an ai'ticle in the iV". E. Fai-mcr of the 

 14th, from the Ohio Fariner, on the subject of 

 "Curing hams and sides." It appears to me that 

 hams covered with salt, and in a strong pickle 

 three to five weeks, would be too salt to make 

 good bacon — it would not suit my taste. I have 

 followed one method more than thirty years, and 

 have never failed to have a good article. I pre- 

 pare a pickle by dissolving in boUing water as 

 much salt as will dissolve, and skim off whatever 

 rises on the top. This purified, strong pickle, I 

 reduce by adding an equal quantity of pure Avater. 

 In this reduced pickle of half full strength, when 

 cold, I put my hams, and keep them covered in it 

 till it is convenient to smoke them — five or ten 

 weeks will not hurt them. I never use any salt- 

 petre. I have sometimes put in a little saleratus 

 to correct any acid there may be in pork or pickle, 

 and I think it makes the bacon tender. I use corn 

 cobs to smoke it. Sometimes when I wanted to 

 give more flavor to bacon, I have prepared a li- 

 quor with brown sugar in it, and such spices as I 

 wished — pounded cloves, spice, pepper, (cayenne,) 

 &c., and after taking the hams from the pickle and 

 draining them, kept them basted in this liquor a 

 week or two before smoking. 



I also put down my beef in a similar pickle. I 

 put my beef into a barrel, and then prepare the 

 pickle as for bacon, but pour it on the beef boiling 

 hot. It will keep well till April or May, and then 

 it should be repacked in stronger pickle. I keep 

 the barrel in a cold room above ground. It will 

 be good corned beef till the middle of April, or 

 longer, and as salt as I want to have beef. Salt- 

 petre would give it color and make it harder, but 

 beef is always hard enough for me, and I have an 

 impression that saltpetre does not add to its health- 

 fulness. Some saleratus would not hurt it, but 

 make it tender. I have preserved my beef in this 

 way for at least thirty years, and have never had 

 any injured for want of salt. All who have eaten 

 our beef and bacon call it first rate. Some would 

 prefer to have it a little Salter, perhaps — not much. 

 RuFUs McIntike. 



Parsonsjield, Me., Bee, 1861. 



Remarks. — From our own experience in pre- 

 serving meats, we believe the process stated by 

 Mr. Mclntire is an excellent one — and one that 

 will secure juicy, sweet and tender meat in all 

 cases where the meat itself is good. 



