256 THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 
with a very small water content. Such dried grains not only refuse 
to germinate unless moistened with water, but bacteria are utterly 
unable to grow within them. Nature wishes to preserve the grain 
through the season of rest (winter), and in order to protect it from 
bacteria she takes most of the water out, thus preventing the pu- 
trefaction which would otherwise surely take place. In harvesting 
the grain, therefore, all that is necessary for the farmer to do is to 
collect the product after it is fully ripened, confident that it will not 
contain enough water to make bacterial growth possible. 
Flesh.—With other foods the task is more difficult. The flesh 
of animals contains so much water that it undergoes decay at 
very short notice. So abundant are the bacteria on every side 
that the drying of flesh by simple means is practically impossible. 
We sometimes read of hunters in the wilds of nature, or of savages 
in cooler climates where the air is clear and dry, preserving flesh 
by the simple process of cutting it into thin strips and hanging 
it up in the sun to dry. Such a process would hardly suffice 
upon an ordinary farm, for the flesh would be sure to decay be- 
fore It was dry enough to resist the action of bacteria. Whether 
this is due to the greater amount of moisture in the air, or to the 
fact that there is a larger number of bacteria in the air, around 
civilized communities, cannot be stated. But it is certain that 
such a simple method of drying flesh cannot be adopted by farms 
in general. This method of preserving is, however, still used in 
hot climates, commonly with the addition of salting, and pro- 
duces a form of food known as pemmican, charque, and tassajo. 
The flesh thus prepared loses considerable of its flavor, but 
methods of using artificial heat have been devised which, in a 
measure, remedy this defect. After it is once dried, flesh may 
be preserved in this form almost indefinitely. The drying of flesh 
is a process which hardly concerns agriculture in this country. 
The same end is very commonly reached on the farm by 
artificial drying, accompanied by salting and smoking. In the 
preparation of smoked hams, bacon, or other flesh, bacterial 
