PACKING VENISON. 65 



them hang in some cool place where there is a good 

 current of air, and no chance of rain being drifted on 

 to them. Haunches should not be packed until they 

 have hung a few days, and the fat has become well 

 " set." A deal box is' the best thing to pack them in 

 baskets are apt to let the flies pass in, and the rain 

 also, whereas a good made box, well nailed down, does 

 neither the one or the other. Stout canvas or matting 

 is also used by some, and given fine weather it is as 

 good as box or basket. Should, however, the haunch 

 have to go many miles by mail-cart on a wet day, 

 both this method of packing and the basket trick are 

 certain to result in disappointment to the recipient : 

 for meat that gets damp and wet, turns musty and 

 mouldy by the time it arrives at the end of a thirty 

 hours' journey, and then, if the cook be not very careful 

 to pare off all the musty parts, before putting it to the 

 fire, the whole joint will have a tainted, unpalatable, 

 and perhaps downright unpleasant flavour. Whichever 

 method of packing be chosen, the haunch should be 

 nicely trimmed and floured, and if packed in canvas it 

 should be wrapped in clean paper before sewing up. 



The skull is cleaned by boiling for many hours ; if a 

 good large iron pot be used, several pairs of horns can 

 be done at the same time, but great care must be taken 

 that the brow antlers do not project over the sides of 

 the pot and thus get charred : every year many good 

 horns are spoilt in this manner ; should such a mis- 

 fortune happen, the horn may, perhaps, if not very 

 badly burnt, be trimmed into shape, so as to make a 

 point, and thus rendered presentable. A couple of flat 



