248 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



LEG OF MUTTON BOASTED. 



A leg of mutton intended for roasting should 

 be kept longer than for boiling ; it should be care- 

 fully attended to during the time it is hung up, 

 constantly Aviped to prevent any mustiness gath- 

 ering on the top and below the flap, and in hot 

 weather lightly dusted with flour or pepper to 

 keep off the flies. The kernel in the fat on the 

 thick part of the leg should be taken out by the 

 butcher, for it taints first there ; and the bloody 

 part of the neck should also be cut oflf when first 

 brought in. 



Remove the thick skin very carefully ; trim off 

 the piece of flank that adheres to the fat, and flat- 

 ten the fat with a cutlet-beater or chopper ; cut 

 off the knuckle, and nick the cramp bone, to al- 

 low it to become more plump, as in haunch. Put 

 a little salt and water into the dripping-pan to 

 baste the meat at fu-st ; but then use only its own 

 gravy. Serve with jelly. 



A leg of mutton is usually roasted whole, but 

 can be divided advantageously for a small family. 

 Cut the knuckle into a good sized joint, and boil 

 it until tender ; but put a coarse paste over the 

 lower part of the thick end to keep in the gravy, 

 and roast it ; or if the skin be raised gently from 

 the outside of the leg, to about six or seven inch- 

 es wide, two or three good slices may be cut off 

 for steaks, and the skin then fastened down with 

 ckewers. — Cook Book. 



Steamed Brown Bread. — Take two quarts of 

 sweet skim milk, one tablespoonful of saleratus, 

 one of salt, half a cup of molasses, put in equal 

 quantities of rye and Indian meal until the dough 

 is as stiff as can be conveniently stirred with a 

 spoon, then put it into two two-quart tins. Place 

 sticks across the bottom of the kettle to keep the 

 water from the bread ; place one of the tins on 

 these, and the other in a tin steamer on the top of 

 the same kettle, and let it steam three hours. 

 The water should be kept boiling, while the 

 bread is cooking. When done, put it in a warm 

 oven long enough to dry the top of it, not bake it. 

 Yeast can be used instead of saleratus, if any pre- 

 fer it, but the bread must rise well before putting 

 it in the kettle. 



Cleaning Dish Covers. — Dish covers should 

 always be wiped and polished as soon as they are 

 removed from the table. If this is done while 

 they are warm, it will be but little trouble ; but 

 if the steam is allowed to dry on them, you will 

 find much difficulty in getting the tarnish off from 

 the insides. When they are wiped and polished, 

 hang them up in their places immediately. 



THE CATTLE MARKETS FOR APRIL. 



The following is a summary of the reports for the four weeks 

 ending April 17, 1862 : 



NUMBER AT MARKET, 



CattJe. Sheep. Shotes. Live Fat Hogt. 



March 27 1237 1773 1600 None. 



April 2 1281 3454 2200 500 V 



April 10 1021 1939 2000 150 i^ 



Aprill7 1235 3338 2500 600^* 



Total 4774 10,504 8300 1250 



PRICES. 



Mar. 27. Ap'li. ApHlO. ApVYI. 



Beef cattle, ^ ft 6 (37c 5 ig7 5 57 5 Q7 



Sheep, wool on, live weight. .4^354 4i353 4.135? 4^35J 



Sheep, clipped, live weight.. 3| Slgsl 3Jg3| 3>,S3| 



Swine, stores, wholesale.... 3Ja6 3|i35| 3^@5J 3Jg5 



" " retail 4|37 4 @7 5 {g6^ 4.i36 



Dressed hogs 5 S^i 5 Q6 5Jg6 5^26 



Remarks. — It will be noticed that for these four weeks no change 

 is made in the range of prices for beef. The market, to be sure, 

 has been very steady, but not quite bo uniform as this might seem 

 to indicate. In the weekly Farmer a full column is given to de- 

 tails, by which it will be seen that quality affects the market ag 

 well as price, and that the bulk of the sales are sometimes up 

 and sometimes down in the scale of prices, without exceeding 

 either the highest or the lowest figures. 



QUARTERLY SUMMARY. 



The total number of cattle, sheep, shotes and live fat hogs re- 

 ported for the first quarter, or the thirteen weeks ending Thurs- 

 day, March 27th, 1862, with the average number for each week, 

 is as follows: 



Whole No. frr 13 weeis. Average No. per tceek. 



Cattle 16,157 1243 



Sheep 34,961 2689 



Shotes 6,515 601 



Live fat hogs 8,850 680 



Of the 16,157 cattle at market during the last quarter, 9118 were 

 'rem the Western States, leaving 7039 as the number from the 

 New England States and northern New York. Of the 34,961 sheep 

 above reported for the quarter, 14,423 were from the West, and 

 20,538 from New England and the northern part of New York. 



It has been found so difficult to decide upon the number of cat- 

 tle that shouH be reported as "stores," that no attempt is made 

 at classification. Many oxen, steers and heifers are sold either 

 for beef or for stores, as will best suit customers. During this 

 quarter, there has been a great demand for light beef, and prob- 

 ably considerable less than 100 head ^ week have escaped the 

 "meat-oxe" of the butcher. 



13^ In one respect the recent floods in Califomfe, 

 have had a beneficial effect, to wit, they have de- 

 veloped new mines, and in many instances formed 

 new deposits in the gulches and river beds, long 

 since worked out and abandoned. The San Fran- 

 cisco Bulletin thinks the total damage caused by 

 the floods will not exceed three and a quarter mil- 

 lions of dollars. 



