44 
FENCES. 
called prime ribs. They are sometimes left in two or 
three pieces only for the same reason as the chuck 
rib; price 9 cents per lb. 
j. Sirloin or tenderloin steaks. It is cut into thin 
slices for steaks as wanted. Steaks should not be 
cut to the required size until they are to be put on the 
gridiron, as they thus lose their juice; price 9 to 10 
cents per lb. 
k. Sirloin roasting piece; price 9 cts. per lb 
l. m. Rump steaks. The steaks from /, are near¬ 
ly (perhaps quite) as good as those of the sirloin; 
these pieces are also corned. If the steaks be cut 
from /, only, they are worth 7 to 8 cts.; if from l and 
m together, 6 cts. per lb. 
n. t. Brisket for corning, and the finest corning 
beef in the animal, when there is a full, deep brisket. 
These pieces are subdivided before corning; price 5 
cts. per lb. 
o. Shoulder or arm for soup and mince meat; also 
corned; price 2 to 3 cts. per lb. It is sold ordinarily 
by the piece. 
p. Cross piece for roast|ig and also cut for steaks; 
it makes a good corning piece. From the cross piece 
is cut the shoulder clod ; cross piece is worth 6 cts.; 
shoulder clod, 5 cts. per lb. 
q. Plates for corning. When corned it is cut 
smaller; price 5 to 6 cts. per lb. 
r. Flank for corning; price 4 to 5 cts. per lb. 
s. v. Thigh or round for beef a la mode; s, worth 
5 cts., and v , 4 cts. per lb. 
u. Navel for corning; to be cut smaller before 
corning; price 5 to 6 cts. per lb. 
w. Shank for soup or mince meat, or corning; price 
2 to 3 cts. per lb., or sold by the piece. This, as well 
as the shoulder or arm piece, o, makes poor corned 
beef and is more economically used for soups; and 
after serving that purpose may be made into mince 
meat or hash. 
Sometimes it is desirable to corn nearly the whole 
of the quarter for dried beef. If so, m, s, and v, are 
left in one piece, l and w being taken off; / is made 
into steaks or corned, and w into soup or mince meat. 
The balance of the thigh, consisting of m, s, and v, 
is cut into long narrow pieces from the upper part 
of the thigh down; they are broad at top and run to 
a point below. When corned they are hung up to 
dry and smoke; and should be hung up by the small 
or lower end. 
e,f, g. Are the primest roasting pieces in the car¬ 
cass; next come c, d, h , fythen k ; then b. Many 
persons prefer k, the sirloin roasting piece, to all oth¬ 
ers ; but a true epicure in beef always chooses the 
rib cuts; and of the rib cuts, the crop ones are far 
the finest. 
The butchers ask most for e,f, g, h, i,j , k. They 
are about equal in price; but e, /, g, are more valua¬ 
ble for roasts; and h, for steaks. Prices vary accord¬ 
ing to the goodness or badness of the animal; as he 
may be good in his chine and crops, and bad in his 
loins and rumps; or the reverse; or equal in both; 
also according to the knowledge of the butcher found¬ 
ed on the fancy of his customers. The highest price 
is always asked for sirloin steaks when cut by the 
butcher. Next come b, c, d, chuck rib roasting pie¬ 
ces and steaks, and /, the rump steaks ; then m, low¬ 
er part of rump, p , cross piece, q, plate, and u, navel; 
r, flank ; s, round; n, t , brisket; v , lower round or 
thigh; «, neck, o, shoulder, and w, leg. 
We would respectfully suggest to all our readers to 
follow the above directions in cutting up their beef. 
It is the most economical, as proved by long experi¬ 
ence, and will avoid all waste. It separates all the 
pieces properly, so that the good and indifferent are 
not joined. If a prime part be left coupled with an 
inferior one, and roasted, the prime only will be eat¬ 
en, and much of the inferior wasted or used in some 
other form, as for hash or mince meat. There are parts 
enough for those purposes, that ought not to be wasted 
and should not be corned. The roasting cuts and the 
steaks require the juiciest meat, with interspersed fat, 
making what is called marbling or sparkling cutting, 
and the fat should not be in separate masses nor in 
great abundance. The prime parts are all juicy. For 
corning, beef should be fat; and the proper corning 
parts have fat in large separate masses. If the pro¬ 
per corning piece be roasted fresh, the lean gets soak¬ 
ed with melted tallow, and the roast is worthless. 
When boiled, this does not take place. Judicious 
cutting is therefore of great importance. 
Sheep and swine are cut up nearly in the same 
manner as the ox, and have nearly the same relative 
value of the different parts. 
FENCES. 
We cannot do without some fencing in America, 
but to be forced to build innumerable lines of it in 
every direction, is a positive curse to the country, and 
a plague upon its morality and industry. It would 
be hardly possible for law or custom, in a (ree ccm- 
munity, to invent and put in practice anything more 
burdensome, unjust, and tyrannical upon the agricul¬ 
tural class, than the present system of fencing. This 
may seem to our readers very strong language. It is 
so, and we mean it as such ; nevertheless, it is bitter¬ 
ly true, every word of it, as we shall endeavor to 
show. It is a long conviction of its truth, and a 
knowledge of the deep hold that the apparent neces¬ 
sity of fencing their land, has upon the habits and 
minds of the people, which compel us to express 
ourselves so decidedly against an odious and tyranni¬ 
cal custom, that has been forced without proper reflec¬ 
tion, upon the cultivated portions of North America 
ever since its settlement. 
On the continent of Europe fences are scarcely 
known; neither are they found in many parts oi 
England, Scotland, or Ireland; and where they now 
exist in these countries the people are fast lessening 
their number, and we fully believe that half a century 
hence such a thing will scarcely be in existence. 
The following are our decided objections to fences: 
1. They are the occasion of more angry words and 
brutal personal conflicts, sometimes ending with the 
death of one or both of the parties to it, law suits, and 
lasting ill-feelings among neighbors, than all other 
causes put together. 
2. They cost immense sums of money. 
3. They take up at least 2 to 3 acres out of every 
hundred of the land. 
4. They harbor large numbers of vermin, and are 
a complete nursery for bushes and every noxious 
weed that grows. 
5 They are much in the way of plowing, harrow¬ 
ing, and otherwise working the land; and unless a 
considerable number of gates are erected along their 
lines, they make it inconvenient getting to the fields, 
and by the circuits which have to be taken, greatly 
