186 
COMPARATIVE WEIGHT OF PORK AND BACON. 
The cistern, it will be seen, is directly beneath 
the bathing room, and the arch so near, that a little 
trouble will at all times secure both cold and warm 
water for bathing. 
An aperture of 6 by 18 inches should be made 
through the floor of the milk-room, into the pantry 
in the cellar, which will keep the milk-room cool, 
and ventilate both rooms; it should have a trap¬ 
door to be closed when necessary. 
A drain is constructed in a corner of the cellar 
kitchen, into which all dirty water and suds should 
be thrown to cleanse the back drain, and be saved 
in the manure-yard. To ensure cleanliness in the 
drains, the back grounds should incline from the 
house. I have not made an estimate as to the ex¬ 
pense ; that would depend very much upon the ma¬ 
terials used and the mode of finishing. The scenery 
and location should determine on which side of 
the house the hall should be, also the piazza in the 
wing. Mrs. James M. Ellis. 
Onondaga Hill, Nov., 1846. 
The above is a Prize Essay, copied from the 
Transactions of the New York State Agricultural 
Society for 1846. 
♦ 
COMPARATIVE WEIGHT 
Valuable Tables. —In your February number I 
promised to give your readers some more “ practi¬ 
cal facts about bacon,” to show the profit or loss 
upon cutting, salting, and smoking pork, according 
to directions in that article. I now fulfil my pro¬ 
mise. On the 16th of Bee., 1846, I bought twelve 
OF PORK AND BACON, 
hogs, weighing 272, 245, 240, 237, 230, 229, 223, 
212, 212, 206, 198, 189, making a total of 2,693 
lbs. af$l,87| per cwt., making $50.50. 
According to the market price in Chicago this 
was the fair value, merely deducting price of haul 
ing. These cut up next day made 
24 handsomely trim’d hams, 
24 do. shoulders, 
24 do. sides, clear of bone, 
Leaf, lard, and trimmings of belly, &c., 
weighing 632 lbs., to cost say cts., $14.22 
do. 
580 
do. 
do. 
2 
do. 
11.60 
do. 
668 
do. 
do. 
do. 
16.65 
do. 
330 
do. 
do. 
3 
do. 
9.90 
Trimmings of lean meat, clear of bone, for sausage, 51, it will make 
$52.37 
Or $1.87 more than the whole hogs cost, or 2,261 lbs., including the sausage meat 
at 2| cents a pound, it will exceed the cost 37 cents. 
Then I had the remainder as follows : 
12joles.106 
Back bones and ribs.158 
Pates and souse.125 
Loss in cutting up. 43 
2693 
I take no account now of anything but the hams, 
shoulders, and sides. For cutting and curing I have 
charged my own time. 
1 day cutting up and salting (including board) -« $1.25 
1 day hired man assisting. 62 
2 lbs. saltpetre, 37; 96 lbs. N. Y. salt (1| bushels) 
96 cts.. 1.33 
Dec. 30, work overhauling and resalting, 25 cts.; 
32 lbs. salt, 32 cts.. 57 
Jan. 16, 1847, preparing and hanging up meat to 
smoke. 1.25 
April 2, labor of weighing bacon. 25 
$5.27 
After smoking and drying from January 16 to 
April 2, it weighed as follows : 
24 hams.571,- • • loss 61, • • • -632 original weight. 
24 shoulders--534,-• • do. 46,-580 do. 
24 sides.636,-•• do. 32,----668 do. 
1741 139 1880 
This, at three cents a pound, will exceed the cost 
of the hogs, $1.73. 
An} person can, however, fix his own price upon 
each part, and by taking comparative weights 
make his own calculation and estimate of profit and 
loss. The weights were all carefully taken by my 
own hands, with the same steelyards. The hogs 
were well fatted upon corn. The price of pork last 
fall was low. The fair price of the bacon now, I 
think, is seven cents on an average. 
But as “ one swallow don’t make a summer,” I 
w r ill give another table, so that a comparison can 
be made with these and the former one [See Sept. 
No. for 1846]. Jan. 13, 1847, I killed seven hogs, 
weighing 331, 235, 233, 222, 173, 167, 150 (the 
three last pigs), and at same timp received from a 
tenant the half of two others, that were poorly fat¬ 
ted, which weighed 237 and 186, making my half 
212, and the total 1723 lbs., which at the same 
price as the other lot, $1.87£ per cwt., would make 
$32,30. These cut up the next day were as fol¬ 
lows :— 
16 hams. 413 
16 shoulders. 334 
16 sides. 400 
Leaf, lard and trimmings. 262 
Sausage meat and tail pieces. 63 
1472 
Joles. 78 
Back bones and ribs. 80 
Pates and souse. 80 
Loss in cutting. 13 
1723 
The per centage of loss in cutting up this lot is 
less than the other. This is partly owing to being 
better dressed. 
Weight smoked- • • ■ 
.370-.- 
.413 
do. do. - 
-...314--. 
... do. 20-... 
.334 
do. do. • • • • 
...•368... 
... do. 32-... 
-400 
1052 
95 
1147 
This at three cents falls a little short of the price 
