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'THE? RURAIj NEW-VORKER 
April 25, 
!» The Common Question Si* 
The question last month related to 
keeping hams and bacon through the 
Summer: 
The method (used by most of the 
neighbors) of storing ham and bacon for 
Summer use seems to be to slice it just 
as they do for use,.then cook it about half 
what they would for the table, -lay it in 
a common crock, and pour on grease 
enough to cover it. Then slice and fry 
another spiderful and so on. This saves 
the ham, but it does not make very rich 
eating next Summer. I would like to 
get some method that will enable us to 
lay the whole ham away until wanted, 
then have it fresh and juicy as it is in 
March. \v. H. r. 
Rural housewives have given us the 
following notes: 
We have cut it as we would for cook¬ 
ing and packed it in a gallon jar, then set 
in oven and let bake until the meat is 
cooked. While it is hot we put a weight 
on and the grease covers it. We had 
some put down in that way that kept 
until a year from the next Summer, and 
was good. MRS. SARAH E. TAYLOR. 
Iowa. 
The U. S. Navy packs its hams in the 
following manner: The hams are first 
wrapped in oiled paper, then covered 
with cloth. They are then packed in 
small barrels holding about 100 pounds; 
the space between the hams being filled 
with fine salt. The hams thus packed 
keep perfectly. a. b. Randall. 
New Hampshire. 
This is my way of keeping smoked 
ham through the Summer. Do each ham 
up separately, in brown paper, or what is 
better, a paper flour bag, and inclose it 
in a meal bag, then bury in a barrel of 
wood ashes, and keep in the cellar or a 
cool place. When wanted for use take 
the ham out, cut off what is required, and 
replace in the ashes. I usually cut off 
enough for two or three meals. 
MRS. C1IAS. E. MARTI NE. 
Northern New Hampshire. 
I am enclosing small piece of shoulder 
which was butchered December 15, 1012, 
and hence has survived one Summer’s 
heat. After removal from smokehouse 
the meat is given a light sprinkling of 
powdered borax and suspended from the 
ceiling of the storeroom, each piece so 
hung that it does not touch any other. 
A couple of windows are left open for 
circulation of air. You will notice that 
our meat is skinned, as we prefer it 
that way, and then too the brine pene¬ 
trates more .thoroughly. This shoulder 
and a couple of strips of bacon were 
left from last year’s supply and this 
Spring were dropped in the ham brine 
for a few days with the other meat. The 
meat will not mould, and flies will not 
touch it. It is the easiest and most 
satisfactory way of preservation we 
have found as yet. Hope it may be of 
use to others. “farmer’s wife. 
Long Island. 
R. N.-Y.—This slice of ham was in 
good condition—excellent meat. 
Ilog-killing generally begins here No¬ 
vember 15, and is all over by Christmas, 
except one or two are killed later for 
the purpose of getting fresh meat and 
sausage. It is salted down the day after 
killing, when perfectly cool. If it is 
frozen, it should be thawed before salt¬ 
ing. or it will spoil. The salt is well 
rubbed in, and also piled over the meat, 
and then packed in a box, where it is 
allowed to stay from four to six weeks, 
depending on size of meat and weather. 
The salt is then washed off, and meat 
hung up and smoked until brown, as is 
wanted. Hickory wood is preferred for 
smoking, but almost any wood will do. 
Before fly time comes, the hams are taken 
down, rubbed with red pepper and 
sacked in large thick paper sacks, which 
will hold a 30 or 40 pound ham; then 
hung up again, and we almost always 
have an old ham for next Christmas. 
The sides need no more attention after 
smoking, but can be left hanging until 
used. If care is taken with the salt¬ 
ing, well smoked and sacks tied well, 
no meat will ever be lost down here, and 
certainly not in Ohio. R. jellicorse. 
Tennessee. 
I solved the problem of carrying ham 
and bacon through the Summer the past 
season in the following way : After hams 
were properly smoked they were sliced 
neatly, all bones cut out, then packed 
carefully in gallon jars to within an 
inch of .top. A plate which fitted inside 
the jar was put on, then the jars put in 
a moderate oven and kept there two 
hours. When taken out the meat was 
covered with its own fat, which when 
taken out through the Summer is exactly 
like fresh ham, only better. After open¬ 
ing a jar and taking out for meals, the 
fat must be returned in sufficient quan¬ 
tities to keep meat well covered. When 
jars ai’e put away cover wfith heavy 
brown paper. 
MRS. C. M. MCALLISTER. 
New York. 
Here we have had perfect success in 
keeping hams and bacon in dry air 
slaked lime, and others have been equally 
successful. The hams and bacon have 
been cured in the following brine: To 
100 pounds pork take six pounds salt, 
two pounds brown sugar, two ounces 
saltpetre, six gallons of water, or enough 
to cover the meat. Keep in pickle six or 
eight weeks, then hang it up to dry. If 
there is no smokehouse it may be painted 
with “liquid smoke.” Some people might 
think this unwholesome, but we used it 
several years and are still very much 
alive. A molasses barrel is convenient 
for pickling the meat in. When the 
pieces are dry, they may each be wrapped 
tightly in strong brown paper. Then 
take a flour or sugar barrel, put in a 
layer of air slaked lime in pretty fine 
powder, then a piece or pieces of the 
wrapped meat, cover entirely with more 
lime, then put in more meat. Do this 
until the barrel is full, having an ample 
layer of lime on top. The barrel may be 
kept in the third story. We tested this 
method by keeping a ham two years and 
it was very good at the end of that time. 
It is a delightfully simple method and 
we think it excellent. 
Pennsylvania. Alice e. fentem. 
Doubtless most farm housewives still 
keep ham and bacon by the method de¬ 
scribed in the March magazine section of 
The R. N.-Y., but we think the product 
very inferior in flavor. Bacon especially 
is easily kept, though I experimented 
several years before learning how. Wrap 
each well smoked piece in paraffin paper, 
(doubtless parchment paper would be 
better), put the pieces in a paper flour 
sack and keep in any dry place. Ours is 
kept in an attic storeroom over the kitch¬ 
en, where it is often very hot in Sum¬ 
mer, but the heat seems to make no dif¬ 
ference. We had still some when fresh 
meat came again; used the last to fry 
with the fresh liver. I have been told 
that smoked hams may be kept in the 
same way by merely shutting them away 
from the air and from insects, but I have 
always feared that the bone in them 
would cause trouble. We slice ours, 
trim and remove bone, then pack with¬ 
out cooking, in wide gallon jars and cov¬ 
er with lard, -taking care to have it cool 
enough not to heat the meat. This keeps 
well in the cellar, but ours is kept in the 
refrigerator. A compartment might be 
made for it in the icehouse. The last 
of ours, in fine condition, was used when 
filling silo about the middle of September. 
Pieces from which the bone cannot be 
readily removed are packed by themselves 
and used first, or boiled for immediate 
use. I cannot see whore it would be an 
advantage to keep the hams whole. A 
half’s day’s work slicing and packing the 
meat disposes of the job for the season, 
and it is in convenient shape for use at 
a moment’s notice. We appreciate the 
new department in The R. N.-Y. It was 
our best farm paper before, but it is 
better than ever now. The studies in co¬ 
operation promise to be very interesting, 
and we hope practically helpful. 
CLARA E. MCDERMID. 
While the meat will keep nicely fried, 
it never tastes like ham cut fresh and 
juicy from the bone. At one of our La¬ 
dies’ Club meetings we discussed this 
subject, and I will give some of the re¬ 
cipes used by the members. Dip hams 
three minutes in boiling water to free 
from insects, then enclose them in bags 
made of cotton cloth boiled in starch 
with a generous spoonful of red pepper, 
neither insects or flies will trouble, them. 
Hang in a cool place. Another lady gave 
this recipe as one used for many years. Sift 
wood ashes, place a deep layer in a clean 
box. Place a layer of meat, then more 
ashes, until meat is packed. The ashes 
are easily washed off having no effect on 
the meat. Keep in a cool dry place, 
making sure there is a thick layer of 
ashes on top. Another housekeeper said 
they always buried their meat deep down 
in the oat bin and found it perfect when 
used. Another said hams and bacon 
were fine rubbed well with black pepper, 
and that they were not too highly sea¬ 
soned when it was washed off. Another 
covers hers with hot paraffin using a 
paint brush. They never mold or dry 
out, and the paraffin may be used many 
times by boiling it up and letting the 
particles in it settle, then pour it into 
a dish to use the next year. 
Ohio. MRS. JAMES LAMPMAN. 
If W. IT. P. will sprinkle his hams 
and bacon thoroughly with powdered 
borax and leave them in the smokehouse 
he will have no trouble from flies, bugs 
or mould. I have done this for years, 
and never yet lost a ham, and have had 
ham until butchering time in the Fall 
or Winter. The smokehouse is an or¬ 
dinary wooden structure—not insect 
proof. After taking a few slices off a 
ham that you do not care to use up at 
once, if you sprinkle borax on it it will 
not mould and is safe from flies, and can 
be hung back in the smokehouse. I have 
kept hams and bacon in this way until 
butchering time in the Fall or Winter. 
New York. m. c. edington. 
Years ago, we used to bury our hams 
in the oat bin, and they were always good 
until we used them up, some time in 
July. A better way is to put each one 
in a paper bag and pack in an apple bar¬ 
rel in oats, shaking the barrel down to 
pack the oats around them solid. They 
keep better packed in this way upstairs 
than they do in the cellar, not so likely 
to mold. A cut ham put in a bag and 
hung in a dark cellarway ought to keep 
until it is used up. Still a better way is 
to pack them in dry salt. Place a layer 
of salt in the bottom of a meat cask or 
a box and cover the meat with salt. We 
pack our strips of bacon with the hams 
and shoulders, and leave them in the 
cellar. They will keep forever; the only 
objection is they have to be freshened. 
New York. mrs. icate w. busiion. 
“Do you think .1 can safely ask your 
daughter to marry me?” “I am sure of 
it. She told me she wouldn’t marry you 
if you were the last man on earth.”— 
Houston Post. 
Eggs in Water Glass. 
Please give recipe for preserving eggs 
with water glass. j. r. 
Decay in eggs is caused by putre¬ 
factive germs entering through the pores 
of the shell. These germs are active in a 
warm temperature, but inert when the 
eggs are in cold storage. The object in 
using water glass is to seal these shell 
pores, and if the eggs are put into the 
solution before the germs have entered, 
they will keep many months—usually a 
year. A standard strength is one part 
water glass (sodium silicate) to nine 
parts of water, in a stone or wood—not 
metal—vessel; put the eggs in the solution 
when fresh and keep them covered with 
the liquid. Be careful not to break any, 
as this might spoil the whole lot. 
These preserved eggs must be sold for 
what they are, not as new-laid. In many 
places the law covers this, and where it 
does not a man will be a law unto him¬ 
self. Water glass eggs are not suitable 
for poaching, and like limed eggs the 
shells must be pricked before boiling to 
avoid cracking. 
The suggested plan of dipping the eggs 
in a strong water glass solution will be 
only partially successful, depending on 
how thoroughly the pores are sealed. 
Sweeping Compounds. 
Fan you give me the formula for mak¬ 
ing sweeping compound? w. c. p. 
There are a great number of sweeping 
compounds mostly consisting of sand and 
sawdust with some oil, as rosin or tar 
oils, in fact, almost any oil that is thick 
enough and does not dry readily, yet is 
not sticky. Salt alone is considered good 
for this purpose and one of the best com¬ 
pounds consists of sand, sawdust, salt 
and paraffin. The proportions are five 
pounds of sawdust, three ounces of salt, 
about 2 Y 2 pounds of sand. Mix the 
above with an ounce of paraffin dis¬ 
solved in a quart of paraffin oil. The oil 
may be heated in a double boiler, and 
you will find that the paraffin wax will 
readily dissolve. Still another compound 
for absorbing or preventing dust may be 
readily made by mixing three ounces 
of mineral sperm oil with 22 ounces of 
Portland cement and add a drop or two 
of mirbane oil. Mix and stir thoroughly 
uiKil it becomes a granular mass rather 
than a paste. r. p. c. 
R- N.-Y".—Some housekeepers soak old 
newspapers, tear them in bits and scatter 
before sweeping. 
Selling by Sample. 
Just before Easter we received a pretty 
little box containing one egg—fresh and 
large. It was a sample of what the send¬ 
er could furnish during the year. Inside 
the box was a card with this little ad¬ 
vertisement : 
THIS EGG 
; was taken from a clean nest and > 
; should reach you in less than ► 
; twenty-four hours from the time • 
; it was laid. ► 
When you eat it you will know > 
< what a real, fresh, sanitary egg > 
< tastes like. > 
- Eggs mailed the same day they > 
; are laid. Every egg guaranteed « 
- absolutely fresh. ► 
For every stale egg you find in • 
■ our shipment we will send you— • 
■ FREE—one dozen fresh eggs. > 
• Forty-five cents per dozen, • 
< postage prepaid. > 
* > 
■- > 
' As soon as we can plow and | 
' plant we will begin raising vege- ; 
; tables to send by mail. ’ 
FAIRHOLME FARM 
The egg was neatly packed in soft 
colored paper, and the whole thing was 
very attractive. Hundreds of bright 
farmers’ wives are at work studying out 
little schemes for advertising the goods 
they have for sale. Customers like these 
little attentions. They are part of the 
trade. 
»▼*▼»»** TTyTTTTT'TTTTTTTT TV V T^TTVT ~TTTTTTTT-VT TT^TT~ 
:The Hired Man’s Children 
The ‘ ‘ common question,” to be discussed 
in the May Number of Woman and Home, 
is suggested by the following letter: 
Would You Object to Children? 
Why do most of farm employers who advertise for help always specify “No chil¬ 
dren wanted”? 1 am a hired man with a family of three little ones, and we get along 
well. I think my employers have no reason to object to children. I admit a child 
that is not properly brought up is something of a nuisance around a place; but where 
do the farmers expect to get their future help if not from the farms? Certainly not 
from the city. I would like to hear from both sides of the question, and I think it 
would interest a lot of your readers, as you must number a good many hired men 
among them. R. B. OWEN. 
Connecticut. 
L 
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