THE RURAL N E\V - VOR KEF1 
The Summer Fresh Meat Supply 
Fresh Meat for Summer Boarders. 
I can fresh meat in tin quart cans, 
pack it in very tight and solder the lids 
on, then take a nail and punch a hole in 
the middle of the lid and set them in 
the boiler filled with water two-thirds 
up the can, and cook until I think it is 
done, then remove from the fire and sol¬ 
der the hole shut. It will keep nicely 
and it is just as nice as the day it was 
butchered. We are just feasting on some 
canned in that way, and it is perfectly 
sweet. M. E. HOUGHTON. 
Ohio. 
The fresh meat question has no terrors 
for me, for we can get it at the village, 
but if it did I could rely on fresh beef 
which we can in the Winter, which is a 
very good substitute. It makes fine hash, 
pot pie and can be cooked in a dozen 
other ways. It is cut off in small pieces 
and pressed into quart cans with a heap¬ 
ing spoonful of salt and some pieces of 
suet. The covers are placed on the cans, 
but not the rubbers, and the cans placed 
in a steam cooker for six hours and 
cooked, the covers are then removed, the 
cans filled from other cans, new rubbers 
put on, lids screwed tight, and left in 
the cooker to cool. The meat will keep 
if necessary for two years. We canned 
the best meat on two beeves last year 
and have no fault to find. We can peas, 
beans and lots of tomatoes and when 
Summer comes find the Summer boarder 
problem an easy one to solve. One has 
to do a great deal of head work along 
with the other work, or with the high 
cost of living, we find we have made but 
little money with all of our hard work. 
But there is more pleasure to be taken 
on a farm to the square inch, even if 
you do have to take city boarders, than 
living in a hall bedroom and eating out 
of a paper bag in the great cities. 
E., N. s. 
Seeing the request for canned fish, I 
am sending the recipe of a friend, who 
puts down fish in jars and keeps it suc¬ 
cessfully through the hot Summer weath¬ 
er. She says: 
“Cut the fish up as for frying, salt well 
and let remain two hours, or more. At 
the end of this time wash the fish well 
and pack in two-quart earthen jars, dot¬ 
ting each layer with tiny pieces of lard, 
using a cupful to a jar. When jar is 
full, pour over it one-half cup of good 
vinegar and bake in a moderate oven 
three hours, or until the water is nearly, 
not quite, all boiled out and the fish is 
brown on top. Remove from the oven, put 
on a plate and wait till cold. When cold 
remove plate and pour on more lard. 
Cover with papers tied on tight. When 
ready to use this, scrape off all the lard 
you can, set the jar in warm water 
and turn the fish out on a tin, set in 
oven and pour off all the grease you can, 
as it is very rich. It is very good either 
warm or cold. The bones are soft, like 
canned salmon bones, and it is far bet¬ 
ter.” MBS. M. KENNEDY. 
Feeding the Boys. 
You ask about boarders. I had three 
boys, 14, 15 and 10 years old, and we 
fed them just the same and at the same 
table as family; all the milk they want¬ 
ed, eggs, pork (salt from my own barrel), 
ham (our own cured), fowls, and the 
meat cart comes twice a week. I am 
trying for 10 for this Summer. I had 
young chicks fried when the father and 
mother of two were there, but otherwise 
it was old hen boiled with lots of good 
bread. For breakfast, and sometimes 
for supper it was cereal, none of that 
prepared stuff, but cream of wheat or oat 
flake, with cream on it. They paid for 
what they had and now I can refer to 
them; once a customer, always one, is 
our plan. As to vegetables, don’t skimp 
on milk and cream in the cooking; when 
the peas are done don’t have very much 
water left on. and add cream. Don’t put 
white sauce on any vegetables if possible 
to use cream, and we had pie or pud¬ 
ding, with all the fruit they wanted, any 
time. They had the run of the farm and 
they are welcome any time for week 
ends. The only damage done was a few 
panes of window glass they broke, and 
they went to the store, bought and re¬ 
placed, and came to us with the pieces. 
Therefore I could find no fault, for what 
was a couple of window panes 6xS, when 
there were others put in all right? 
MRS. VAN. 
In answer to the New England farm¬ 
er's wife asking for our method of pro¬ 
viding fresh meat during hot weather, 
as a farmer’s wife and mother of a large 
family, would say that we have found 
canning beef a grand success and easily 
done. Take nice, fresh beef, cut in 
pieces, discarding all bone, and put in 
glass fruit jars, being careful to about 
equally distribute the fatty portions, so 
as to give it the best flavor. To each 
two-quart jar add one tablespoonful salt 
and fill jars to within 1% or two inches 
of top to allow for expansion; put on 
new rubbers and seal tightly. Place rack 
of some kind in bottom of wash boiler, 
and set in the jars. Put in cold water 
nearly to jar rubbers, and gradually 
bring to boil. Boil 4y 2 to five hours add¬ 
ing more hot water as needed. Take out 
and tighten lids as they will sometimes 
become loose. If we notice any juice es¬ 
caping during process of boiling, we 
tighten lids at once. This will keep in¬ 
definitely and is simply fine, as meat is 
cooked in its own juice and has a flavor 
distinctly its own, and needs only to be 
warmed before serving. Try it and be 
convinced. MRS. JOHN UMMEL. 
Indiana. 
The problem of fresh meat is not at 
all hard to solve if an abundance of 
pork is killed in the Winter. Summer 
This Table is too Low. 
boarders want and are paying for change, 
not only change of occupation, scenes, 
and air, but also change of food. At 
home beefsteak and roast beef are eaten 
nearly every day. Don’t think because 
of this that they must have fresh meat— 
give they a change. Nothing is relished 
more than nice country sugar-cured ham. 
Nice slices of ham fried and eggs fried 
in the drippings—what Summer boarder 
would ask more? Is there any more pal¬ 
atable cold meat than boiled ham served 
attractively? When shoulders become 
salt enough instead of smoking fry and 
pack in jars covering with the drippings. 
This gives variety that is pleasing to 
the most fastidious taste. Country saus¬ 
age is another that is a real dainty to 
the city dweller, and it need not be fresh 
either. The canned sausage is always in 
demand. We have another method for 
sausage—pack sterilized crock with fresh 
sausage and cook in slow oven until well 
done, cover crocks with cotton. This is 
always hailed with delight as it tastes 
more like fresh sausage than the canned 
article. With the occasional fried chick¬ 
en. roast chicken and dressing, chicken 
potpie or noodles, very little fresh meat 
need be bought. m. c. b. 
Ohio. 
But first of all remember your Sum¬ 
mer boarders do not want fresh meat at 
all times. They are accustomed to so 
much of it in towns, that it is no treat. 
Salt, mackerel, pickled salmon, and now 
and then the much ridiculed salt cod. in 
cream gravy, will be welcome. Then 
smoked ham, bacon, corned beef and nice¬ 
ly browned salt pork and chipped beef 
with cream gravy, all these are good. 
Occasionally duck, quite often chicken, 
and have a good flock of guineas. They 
take the place of quail and grouse with 
city people. And then here is something 
you may not be familiar with; I am.— 
Begin a year ahead to raise Belgian 
hares. They cost almost nothing, weigh 
about five pounds, are quickly and easily 
dressed and the meat is the finest ever. 
You can produce more pounds of meat 
from Belgian hares, at a smaller cost, 
than of any other meat. Goose comes a 
close second, as geese will pasture all 
Summer and eat cut steamed hay in 
Winter. But many people do not care 
for goose oftener than once a year, while 
hare is relished once a week. There are 
many ways of cooking potpie, stew, 
baked, fried, but the best of all, probably, 
is to parboil the hare, then roll in egged 
cracker crumbs and brown in a kettle of 
hot fat. Hares will live all Winter on 
hay, and the clean peelings from the 
kitchen, still it is best, if raising hares, 
to plant Alfalfa or clover, as they pre¬ 
fer it. HANNAH. 
If I were intending to keep Summer 
boarders I should begin in the Winter to 
prepare for my supply of fresh meats, 
and I would have it thoroughly cooked 
and ready for the table with a five-minute 
fire. Now this is a Western woman's 
way of preparing moat for her Summer 
boarders, the farm hands, thrashers, etc. 
We will call on her for a few days in 
January and observe a beef, veal or a 
hog or mutton has been butchered. She 
has plenty of choice ham and bacon in 
the smoke-house, but she wishes a supply 
of fresh meat for emergencies, extra occa¬ 
sions, etc., and there are lots of them. 
First, the farmer brings to the kitchen a 
large section of a beef. This is cut in 
sizes suitable for the plate and is packed 
in jars without water, only adding salt 
and pepper for seasoning, one tablespoon- 
The Housewife Can Stand Erect. 
ful of salt to a two-quart jar. She 
places these jars in a rack or on slats of 
wood and wrapped with clean cloths, so 
if a jar should break in the cooking pro¬ 
cess the contents would still be usable. 
She fills the boiler full to the jar necks 
with cold water and hurries the fire. 
Then she eyes the clock, and four hours 
from the time it started to boil, it is 
ready to remove from the fire. She has 
placed the lids on loosely at the start, 
but now she tightens each lid, turns 
them over, and if the lid is not tight she 
tightens it more, for the juice spurts 
out where the air might come in. Per¬ 
haps it is necessary to put on a new rub¬ 
ber or another lid (she has extra ones 
sterilized by being placed in boiling 
water). For she knows meat will not 
keep unless it is absolutely sterile and 
perfectly sealed. She insures this farther 
by dipping the jars in melted paraffin. 
She then sends these to the cellar where 
they are placed in dark boxes or are se¬ 
curely wrapped in old papers to exclude 
the light. We will leave her today, but 
will call again unexpectedly next July. 
We are from the city and we marvel at 
her ease as the dinner hour approaches. 
Slip into the kitchen with her and see 
what she does. Johnnie is sent to the 
cellar at 11.30 or later; he reappears 
with a curious brown jar. This is opened 
and the delicious odor of meat floats 
through the kitchen. She empties this 
into her roaster and places it. in the oven 
to crisp or brown off daintily. Presto! 
roast beef and brown gravy. Were it 
the following day it would be boiled With 
spaghetti or- her own egg noodles. She 
would tell you a dozen ways to serve it. 
But remember it is thoroughly cooked in 
this jar, and does not require farther 
cooking. She is ready for any emergency, 
for meat cooked in its own juice and with 
857 
its rich odor confined in the jar is by 
far the finest way to be prepared. 
In closing I may remark that I, my¬ 
self, have canned entire beeves in this 
way and never lost a can. Now to the 
housekeeper who needs fresh meat in 
Summer and has not prepared for this 
during Winter. She may can it now and 
be ready for her boarders at any time 
with meat that no one can detect from 
freshly purchased meat, and I will say 
a stranger or guest never came to my 
table who was a good judge of a choice 
morsel without remarking on the de¬ 
licious flavor and tenderness of my meat. 
Virginia. mrs. j. n. ludington. 
First of all, put yourself in your board¬ 
er's place, and think what you'll want to 
eat if you lived in the city all Winter, 
and ate the kinds of meat and vege¬ 
tables for sale there. What is the an¬ 
swer? Chickens! There isn’t a boarder 
alive who will not eat chicken half the 
time if it is served in different ways, 
roast, stewed, fried, brown fricassee, 
creamed, en casserole, croquettes, pie, 
salad, soup, and in combination with all 
kinds of vegetables. With your own 
supply of poultry, fresh eggs, milk, but¬ 
ter, cottage cheese, fresh vegetables, no 
boarder will miss his city steaks. 
The meat problem seems to give most 
trouble. Keeping raw meat on ice is 
most unsatisfactory, as one can never tell 
just what is going to happen to it. It 
is much safer to cook meat just a little, 
and then depend for variety on the final 
cooking. A large piece of meat may be 
partly boiled or roasted, and served in a 
dozen different ways by taking just the 
amount needed and finishing the cooking 
in any way desired. If you wish to use 
a large quantity of pork in this way, cut 
it in small pieces, cook and season, then 
keep it in wooden or earthen receptacles 
in its own lard. This will keep inde¬ 
finitely if a weight is put on top to 
keep the meat covered with lard. It only 
needs heating to be ready to serve, warm¬ 
ing enough lard each time to cover tin* 
meat in the jar. Of course bacon, ham, 
dried and corned beef may be used occa¬ 
sionally, especially if cooked with some 
vegetable, bacon and string beans, for 
instance. If you know in advance how 
many boarders you will have, it is pos¬ 
sible to can meat during the Winter. 
Almost any meat, cut in small pieces to 
fit in the jars, can be cooked and then 
canned by the method I use for chicken. 
I boil chicken until it is easy to remove 
the bones, then pack in the jars, filling 
them with the broth boiled down. Put 
tops on the jars, but not fastened down; 
then cook in the wash boiler three hours, 
in the same way as any fruit or vege¬ 
table is canned. I fasten the tops of the 
jars while hot, as soon as taken from the 
boiler. Beef, lamb, pork, and sausage 
may be canned in this way, using broth, 
boiled down, or gravy, to fill the jars. 
Washington. MRS. R. R. WILLIAMS. 
Suiting the Table to Back. 
In the last Year Book of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture is an article on 
“The Selection of Household Equip¬ 
ment,” by Helen W. Atwater, which 
gives some very sensible suggestions 
about fitting up the inside of the house 
in a convenient way. While of course 
it is not possible for all farm women to 
fit their houses just as they would like 
there are many things in this article 
which would help anyone who works in 
a kitchen. 
For example, take the two pictures 
shown herewith. There can be no ques¬ 
tion but that many women suffer because 
their household appliances are not well 
fitted to them. Take the two cases hero 
illustrated. In one the kitchen table is 
altogether too low, and the housekeeper 
must stand at her work bent over in an 
unnatural position, and the other the 
kitchen table is higher and properly 
fitted to the height of the housekeeper. 
Who does not know what a difference in 
comfort and in appearance this would 
make during a series of years spent at 
housework? There are many of these 
little things about housekeeping which 
seem small in themselves at the time 
they are considered, and yet which may 
mean everything in health and comfort 
during a term of years. That is one 
thing we can all do at least; we can 
make the kitchen table high or low to 
suit the back. 
