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“MEAT!” 
ALL ABOUT PORK. 
How it is Bred, Fed and Cured. 
THE UNIVERSAL MEAT FOOD. 
Hog and Hominy, 
Sausage and Souse, 
Lard and Liver-wurst, 
Berkshires and Bacon. 
HOWTO FILLTHE PORK BARREL. 
FROM “THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME." 
Kentucky boasts that she raises the finest 
of hogs and makes the best of bacon, and as 
you wish to “know all about it” I shall begin 
at the beginning and tell you exactly how it 
is done. The black Berkshire is the favorite 
breed. They have small bones, round bodies, 
erect ears and white faces and feet; they are 
uniform and symmetrical in appearance, and 
when well cared for, very hardy and healthy. 
They have more industry than any otner 
breed, and seem to have taken as their motto 
the ancient maxim, “Root hog or die.” 
When the pigs are young their dams are 
fed some corn every day, with swill from the 
kitchen and skim-milk or butter-milk ^from 
the dairy, so that tfiey soon learn to drink 
milk and to crack corn, after which they be¬ 
gin to grow quite rapidly. Our farmers do 
not usually push their hogs from pig-hood to 
slaughter time, but endeavor to keep them 
always in a healthy, growing condition. The 
hog that is pushed from its birth is nearly all 
lard and fat, while the one that is of slower 
growth, and is compelled to take a consider¬ 
able amount of exercise in search of its food, 
makes more muscle, that is, lean meat, and 
consequently does not lose so much in weight 
when converted into bacon. 
Good farmers are careful to afford their 
hogs constant grazing: these are especially 
fond of clover blossoms and have a prescript¬ 
ive right to glean the harvest fields and to eat 
all the fruit, that falls. From (50 to 00 days 
before they are killed, they are fed all the 
corn, peas, and pumpkins they will eat; but 
even then they are not confined to a small 
pen, but have the run of a lot of some acres 
accessible to water, generally a part of the 
corn field fenced off. In order to keep them 
healthy, an occasional dose of copperas is put 
into their swill, and in a trough near by is 
kept a constant supply of dry ashes and salt, 
stone coal, and charcoal. Cared for in this 
way, the black Berkshires can easily be made 
to weigh 300 ( pounds gross when from 15 to IS 
months old. Farmers usually sell their hogs of 
this size to city pork houses, or ship them to 
Eastern cities; they prefer that their family 
meat shall weigh from 150 to 200 pounds net, 
to which weight a pig may readily attain 
when from seven to ten months old. 
A bright, cool day in'thejlatter part of Nov¬ 
ember, or during December, when the ther¬ 
mometer stands at 32 ,degrees, is considered 
the best kind of weather for hog killing. 
Then we drive the required number of hogs 
into a small pen, lodge a rifle ball in the'brain 
of each and send a keen knife to its heart. 
The hog should be allowed to bleed freely, and 
after life has left the body it is plunged into 
water; just hot.enouglf tohnake the hair and 
epidermis slip off easily. After the carcass is 
scraped clean it is suspended, head downwards, 
opened, and thoroughly^,washed with plenty 
of cold water. % It. is,left 4 in this position for 
several hours, until ityis ] cold enough to cut 
out smoothly, when it is taken down and with 
a sharp’knife divided.into the requisite num¬ 
ber of pieces. We prefer chat the meat should 
not freeze, for should the joints be scalded 
down in that condition, the salt will be un- 
THE RURAL HEW-¥©R8CER. 
able to penetrate them and they will be likely 
to spoil when the warm weather comes. 
Dry, pulverized salt is carefully rubbed 
over each piece, and if all animal heat has 
disappeared, the meat is then laid in bulk, 
each piece being placed with the skin down, 
salt being heaped upon the fleshy sides of 
hams and shoulders as long as it will stay on. 
There is no danger of their absorbing more 
than they need. The thin, bony pieces should 
be salted more sparingly and placed in a 
heap by themselves. A small quantity of 
saltpeter, mixed with the salt, tends to harden 
the outside tissues and gives the cured meat 
a pretty red color, but we use nothing to pre. 
serve the meat except pure, dry salt, and 
when the meat is properly managed it will 
dissolve and absorb just what it needs. The 
Kanawha and the Saginaw salts are the 
kinds used in this section. They are pure 
white, have large crystals, and are very 
strong; both kinds are pretty much the same. 
We do not put any meat in brine, liking to 
keep it as dry as possible; brine dissolves and 
weakens the tissues, and dilutes the juices. 
Pork is usually allowed to remain in bulk 
four weeks, though a shorter time will do if 
the weather is moderate; wtien the weather 
is freezing cold, it should remain longer. It 
is best, however, that meat should never be 
frozen at all. After the meat has taken salt, 
it is hung up in a dry, dark room, where a 
slow fire is kept under it—-just enough to 
make the air a little warm, but not sufficiently 
hot to cause the meat to drip. This is called 
(‘curing” and is done during the last two 
months of winter. Many farmers prefer to 
cure with hickory wood because it makes a 
slow, steady fire; besides, they say the smoke 
from hickory wood gives the meat a pleasant, 
aromatic flavor and has a tendency to make 
it red in color. I cannot vouch for that, 
however. 
Before warm weather comes, something is 
done to secure the meat from flies. Some 
house-keepers wrap each ham and shoulder in 
several thicknesses of paper and inclose it in 
a canvas bag that has been made stiff with 
thick starch. Others make a thick paste of 
flour starch highly seasoned with black and 
red pepper, and a small quantity of molasses, 
(which is put in to make it stick), and in 
this each piece is immersed, after which it is 
allowed to hang up in the meat-house all sum¬ 
mer. But the old-fashioned people whose 
bacon is always to be depended upon, wrap 
up each piece in paper and pack it down in 
dry leached ashes which have been in use for 
a life-time, taking care, however, to put a 
jayer of corn-cobs between the pieces so that 
they may not touch. The sides are left hang¬ 
ing in the smoke-house, no attention what¬ 
ever being paid to them after drying. When 
this has been well attended to, they take on a 
color like brown sugar, and when cut the meat 
is white, juicy, and sweet, but not oily or 
slimy. Many farmers, or farmers’ wives 
keep bacon hams until they are two years old, 
perfectly sound and sweet. Spareribs, back¬ 
bones, and heads are used while fresh: jowls 
are usually hung up and partially dried and 
are used in the spring before the large pieces 
are cut. 
The next day after the hogs are killed the 
fatty portions are rendered into lard. This 
is divided into three classes.—the entrail, the 
leaf, and the meat lard. When the entrail 
lard is carefully prepared, it is as white as 
any, but although perfectly sweet and free 
from any unpleasant flavor, it does not keep 
so well as either of the other kinds, and 
should be used first. What is called “leaf 
lard” lies in flat, white slabs close to the ribs 
on the inside of the hog. This is almost pure 
fat and cooks very quickly. It is usually 
considered the nicest of all; Out I rather pre¬ 
fer that which is made from fat meat. It 
seems to have a larger grain and is very solid 
and firm,—keeps well in a moderately cool 
cellar until fall. The meat lard is slightly 
creamy in color because it requires so much 
longer in cooking. Ours is kept in tin 
stands which hold from 25 to 50 pounds. One 
must be careful to cool the lard partially 
before pouring it into a tin vessel, otherwise 
the heat will unsolder the seams. The secret 
of making nice lard consists in washing each 
piece thoroughly in cold water, removing all 
impurities -which will tend to discolor it, hav¬ 
ing the boiling kettle perfectly clean and free 
from rust, containing a few gallons of boiling 
water when the fat is dropped in, and in stir¬ 
ring it frequently to prevent its sticking to 
the bottom and sides and scorching. When 
the water has evaporated and the lard is 
nearly done, soda is put in—one tablespoon¬ 
ful to three gallons of lard is about the right 
proportion. The soda should be dissolved in 
a few spoonfuls of water, and put in a small 
quantity at a time, for fear the effervescence 
would cause the liquid to boil over and set the 
whole on fire. Soda seems to make the grease 
come out of the cracklings, and neutralizes any 
acid they may contain, thus making the lard 
keep better. When the cracklings assume a 
light brown color,the kettle should be removed 
from the fife, the clean lard should be drained 
off to cool, and the cracklings pressed. 
Sausage is the next consideration. When 
the pork is cut out, the small bits which are 
trimmed off in order to make the large pieces 
symmetrical, are ground into sausage. Saus¬ 
age meat should be three parts lean to one of 
fat. We usually run it through the mill 
twice, once separately, and again after the 
lean and the fat have been mixed together, 
after which it is spread upon a large table and 
seasoned to the taste with black and red pep¬ 
per, sage, and salt. A little cake of sausage 
is dropped into the frying-pan now and then, 
and must be duly tasted t>y each one of the 
family so as to get the seasoning right. 
There is another dish called liver-wurst of 
which some country people are very fond. 
Select a healthy-looking, fresh liver—one free 
from spots and discolorations—one heart, 
one light, and a hog’s head, and boil them 
all together until tender. Then lift them out 
of the liquor, pick out all the bones, gristles, 
and stringy pieces, spread the mass upon the 
table and season it the same as sausage, ex¬ 
cept that chopped raw onions should be sub¬ 
stituted for sage. When properly prepared 
liver-wurst makes a very wholesome and sav¬ 
ory dish. It may be kept in the same manner 
as sausage. W hen prepared for the table, it 
is only heated—not cooked as much as saus¬ 
age. 
Souse is composed of the feet, ears,'and 
noses, which should be carefully scraped, 
washed, and soaked in cold water for several 
days. At the end of that time they should be 
scraped again, w-ashed, and put to soak in 
fresh water for a day or two longer, when 
they are put into a big kettle, together with a 
hog’s head, and boiled until the meat may be 
easily separated from the bones. The former 
should be boiled in plenty of water so that 
the oil may rise to the top and be saved, as 
hog’s-foot oil is considered very valuable. 
When thoroughly done and the oil is removed, 
the meat is taken up in wooden bowls, the 
bones carefully picked out, the mass well 
kueadedsoas to make it smooth and light-col¬ 
ored, and the whole seasoned to the taste with 
salt, pepper, and sage. Before it is cold, it 
should be poured into molds, where it assumes 
the consistency of jelly and is considered quite 
a delicacy. 
Hog killing is quite an event on the farm, 
so many good things follow in its wake, and 
each farmer’s wife prides herself upon having 
her share of it done up in the best style. Ba 
con is the staple meat in the country, though 
the towns, even the small country towns, 
are using fresh meat, principally beef, more 
and more every year. 
Logan County, Ky. 
a farmer’s daughter. 
NEW YORK STATE PORK. 
If good pork is to be secured great care and 
judgment must be used in the rearing and 
fattening of the animals. The pigs had bet¬ 
ter not be more than one year old. They 
should have a large infusion of the Sus-scrofa 
blood—that is, they should trace back in 
many of their lines to the wild boar of Eu¬ 
rope. If too much of their blood is of the 
Sus-Indicus type (or Chinese hog) they will 
have too large a proportion of soft, oily meat 
and too small a proportion of lean meat. The 
pigs should never be raised in a small, close 
pen—they may be started there in the spring 
and finished off during the last six weeks of 
their life in comfortable pens, but the sum. 
mer months should be spent in the open fields, 
among the clover and the grasses. Skim- 
milk and bran are much better foods than 
corn. The aim should be to make the pig 
grow rapidly, but he'should not be made what 
is called fat until near the close of his life. A 
good, vigorous growth and plenty of exercise 
with a fairly balanced ration—that is, one 
with a liberal proportion of albuminoids, will 
overcome to some extent the tendency to put 
on an inoidinate amount of fat, which has 
been bred into most varieties of hogs for the 
last 50 years. 
Berkshires are my favorite breed. They 
make the best meat, especially hams. I pre¬ 
fer to have eight-month-old pigs that will 
weigh in the neighborhood of 200 pounds 
after they have been well fattened. For 
butchering select, 1 if possible, a clear, frosty 
day, late in November or December. I want 
the weather cold enough to make the carcass 
stiffen firmly, but not so cold that the meat - 
will not cool out clear to the center before it 
begins to freeze on the outside. For side 
pork I use a brine as strong as it can be made; 
it will take about 30 pounds of salt per 100 
pounds of meat. The pork is to remain in 
the brine until it is used and there should 
always be undissolvedisalt in the barrel. At 
the approach of warm weather the brine 
hould be drawn off, thoroughly scalded, 
skimmed, and afcer it has become cold re¬ 
turned to the barrel, care being taken to add 
more salt if it is needed. For hams and shoul¬ 
ders I make a brine of nine pounds of salt 
and a quarter M a pound of saltpeter to 100 
pouuds of meat. There should be sufficient 
brine to cover the meat, and the hams should 
remain in the brine about six weeks, and then 
be smoked over hickory chips or corn-cobs. 
In smoking, it is much better to build the fire 
outside the smoke-house and conduct the 
smoke to it underground or otherwise. In 
this way all danger from fire is averted. Af¬ 
ter the hams are smoked they should be put in 
paper sacks tightly closed, and huug in a 
cool, dry place. Bacon is better if dry-salted. 
This is done by carefully rubbing each piece 
with fine salt and packing away in salt in a 
box or barrel. The pieces should be taken 
out, rubbed with salt and repacked about 
twice in the course of six weeks or two 
months, after which the treatment is the same 
as for hams and shoulders. 
The leaf and other lard should not be tried 
out or mixed with that taken from the en¬ 
trails. The latter should be used first as it 
does not keep so well as the other. In trying 
out lard, do not tty to brown or make crisp 
the cracklings as there is great danger of 
scorching the lard. Pure lard will not boil. 
When the bubbling becomes faint it is a 
certain indication that the lard is cooked 
quite enough. 
When the hogs are killed the beef which 
should always be fattened on every farm 
should be killed also. The very best of 
sausage can be made by using 50 per cent- 
of the poorer parts of the lean beef and 50 
per cent of pure or nearly pure fat pork. If 
some lean pork is used less beef may be used. 
Cut the beef first alone and then recut with 
the pork. Sausage meat after it is cut can 
hardly be mixed too much. Never put water 
in sausage meat, or sage in that portion which 
is designed to be kept for some time. If sage 
is desired, it may be added at the time of 
cooking. Small pieces of meat which have 
become a little sour from want of proper ex¬ 
posure to the air, water, and sage, all seri¬ 
ously interfere with the keeping qualities of 
sausage. The seasoning should be to taste, 
which varies very widely. That which is 
designed for long keeping should be packed in 
stone jars and covered with melted lard. A 
portion of that put in cases may be smoked, 
thus adding variety to the winter’s food. A 
good sausage for immediate use can be made 
out of pork—about half lean and half fat— 
and raw sliced potatoes. i. p. Roberts. 
DELAWARE DOINGS. 
“As hog and hominy are supposed to 
be the two staple articles of diet in the 
Southern States, naturally the hog must be 
an important item on the farm. It used 
to be said that in the South we raised 
corn to feed to hogs and hogs to feed 
the darky, and that when we wished for 
money we sold the “coon.” This state of 
things still exists, with the exception that we 
do not sell the “darkies” as of old. If there is 
one thing more than another which the aver¬ 
age farmer takes especial pride in, it is in the 
size of his porkers, so the larger breeds of 
hogs find most favor with us. The Chester- 
Whites and Polaud-Chinas take the lead; 
although Berkshires are a favorite breed with 
many, as they will make more pork from a 
given amount of feed than the larger breeds. 
The litters of pigs dropped this summer and 
fall are our next season’s porkers. They go 
into winter-quarters good-sized shoats able to 
eat almost anything and needing no nursing. 
In the spring they will be turned into the hog 
lot or apple orchard and will be fed on a 
miscellaneous assortment of odds and ends 
from the kitchen, dairy and farm in general, 
with just enough grain to keep them in good 
growing order. This state of things continues 
till corn is fit to husk, when the hogs intended 
for slaughter are put up in the pen with just 
room enough for comfort and exercise, and 
probably for the first time in their lives they 
have all the corn they can eat three times a 
day, with a small amount of water or swill. 
This treatment soon begins to tell, and the 
long, slab-sided fellows begin to fill in with 
solid flesh. Right here let me say that if our 
hogs become cloyed and refuse their corn or. 
show signs of such a condition, we slack off 
and give a change of feed, such as apples, 
bran, turnips or almost anything that is 
laxative; then they will soon come around 
all right. December is the favorite month 
for slaughter. After the hogs get in good 
condition for killing, we usually feed them on 
corn meal and water for a week or so, then 
kill them and put up for the next twelve 
months supply. As a rule, every farmer 
is his own butcher. Every one should 
know how to kill and dress as well 
as cure his pork. When we set a day 
for butchering we generally butcher whether 
the weather is hot or cold, rainy or sun¬ 
shiny, unless it should rain so hard that we 
