236 
PORK—BACON—HAM.—NO. 5. 
wheat from New York for the supply of the j 
country. 
Near Atlanta, resides Mr. J. V. Jones, who has 
lately become somewhat celebrated as the 
grower of a remarkably fine quality of upland 
cotton of a very long staple, upon his plantation, 
4n Burke county. It is known as Jethro cotton, 
and is well worthy the attention of all planters. 
This part of Georgia is noted for the salubrious¬ 
ness of its climate. The soil around Atlanta 
is not first quality, except for fruit. Apples are 
abundant. Mr. Peters is experimenting, which 
will be the best grass to cultivate, as that is 
only lacking to make it one of the very best 
wool-growing regions. 
Stone Mountain is an object, which attracts 
the attention of all travellers, a few miles after 
leaving Atlanta, on the road to Augusta. It is 
an immense mass of naked granite, standing up 
out of the comparative level around, like the 
great pyramids of Egypt. It is a land mark 
that will endure forever. If it had been a lime 
rock, it would have been more valuable to the 
agriculturist; for all the lands along this road 
would be wonderfully benefitted by an applica¬ 
tion of calcareous matter. In sight of this great 
natural curiosity let the traveller rest. 
Solon Robinson. 
PORK—BACON—HAM.—No. 5. 
No animal yields so little mere offal as the 
pig, every part being made useful—feet, head, 
and shanks are all admired when pickled or 
made into “ brawn.” The poor man makes a 
comfortable meal of the pluck and part of the 
caul; the large intestines and stomach are sold 
under the name of “ chitterlingsthe small in¬ 
testines envelope sausage meat; sausage meat 
itself is formed from the scraps; black puddings 
are made from its blood, the bristles are appro¬ 
priated by the brushmaker, every part is turned 
to account, so much so, that we cannot be sur¬ 
prised at the hog being so long continued a fa¬ 
vorite at the farm house, particularly when we 
take into consideration the valuable property 
which his flesh possesses of being easily pre¬ 
served for future occasions by means of salt. 
In noticing the curing of bacon and pork, it 
is barely requisite to mention the curing of pork 
for the navy, the cutting up of which requires 
some practice, as every piece ought to weigh 
as nearly as possible alike, with an equal amount 
of bone. When cut up, it is thrown into large 
tubs containing a preparation of strong pickle, 
formed of salt and saltpetre; when cured, it is 
put into barrels, the bottom of the cask being cov¬ 
ered with a layer of bay salt, then a layer of 
pork, another layer of salt, and so on alternately 
until the cask is nearly filled; then a layer of 
salt is laid on the top, and the cask headed up. 
The fresh pickle out of which the pork has been 
taken is then saturated with salt and poured 
through a hole left in the head of the cask for 
the purpose; when the cask is full, the hole is 
plugged up and the cask sent to market. Pork¬ 
ers cured for the home market, and usually 
known in the metropolis as barrelled “ Berwick 
pork,” is cured by being cut up into pieces and 
salted in tubs, having no other brine than that 
formed by itself in pickling. It is, when cured, 
taken out, packed in barrels along with fresh, 
strong pickle, and sent to market. A large 
quantity of the Berwick pork, sold in London, 
comes from the west of Ireland. For home use, 
pickled pork may be made, using a little sugar 
in addition to the salt, by which means less of 
the latter may be used. By this mode, the pork 
is not quite so salt; as, however, pickled pork 
is always preferred when made from pigs of 
moderate size, it is better to make the same as 
wanted, and not to keep it more than a month 
or six weeks; for prepare it in whatever way 
that can be devised, the flesh of young pigs will 
contract very much in the pot, if long cured, 
and in cooking, care should be taken not to over¬ 
boil it, otherwise it will also contract. 
All sorts of recipes have been given for cur¬ 
ing ham and bacon, some representing the mode 
of one country, some of another, overlooking 
the fact that almost every country or county 
adopts varied means, and do not confine them¬ 
selves to any particular rule. If half a dozen 
farm houses in Westmoreland and Cumberland, 
who practise curing bacon on an extensive 
scale, be asked for their recipes, three or four 
different ones will be given; in fact, the mode 
of curing is most empirical, every curer adopt¬ 
ing a formula of his own. If any book treating 
on swine and curing bacon is taken up, it will 
be invariably found that sugar or molasses en¬ 
ter into the reputed recipes of most of the cele¬ 
brated districts. Now, the writer knows from 
actual experience, and from having been wit¬ 
ness to the curing of bacon and hams in the 
west of England, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 
and Ireland, in the latter country where both 
York hams and West-of-England bacon is made 
up for the English market, and sold as such in 
England, (one curer of York hams in Ireland 
sending almost the whole of his make to Hull 
t and York,) that no sugar nor molasses enters 
into the process of curing where the business 
