House and Garden 
on the criminal classes but siifters a loss from the low 
vitality of many whose lives are cut short or rendered 
nonproductive through lack of simple teaching how 
to live, or lack of State regulation of unhealthful 
industries, or other failure of human kindness. If 
it is true that this is a commercial age, it is well to 
emphasize the 'commercial side of philanthropy, 
using the word in its broadest sense. 
The Virginia Razorback 
By JOHN GILMER SPEED 
T here are some who contend that the razor- 
back hog of Virginia and other parts of the 
South is a wild hog. If he be wild he is so 
because he has become so, just as the wild horses of 
the plains, the mustangs, became wild. There were 
no hogs in this country when the white people came. 
They were brought over by the early settlers. Doubt¬ 
less these razorbacks are descended 
from the European hogs that were 
undisturbed in the forest, breeding 
and feeding as they chose. At 
any rate they became quite wild 
and I can recall as a boy seeing 
boars that seemed to me as 
good game as any one wanted 
to hunt. Certainly the flesh has 
a decidedly game flavor. One of 
the present writer’s ancestors who 
had been badly crippled by a 
wound m the War of the Revo¬ 
lution was killed by a wild sow 
in the woods of his Kentucky 
estate. Exactly how it happened 
no one ever knew. In the forests 
of Virginia these hogs are often 
encountered feeding upon the acorns 
and other nuts that fall, burrowing 
for the roots that they so well know 
how to find. Erom the chief packer 
of these famous Virginia hams—and this establish¬ 
ment was started in Smithfield in 1789—I have a 
letter describing the kind of hog used to make these 
world-renowned hams. 
“ I'hese hogs, ” he says, “ are long legged and lean 
and feed in the forest in the spring and summer. In 
the autumn they are turned into the peanut fields and 
about thirty days before they are killed they are fed 
on corn. 'Phis makes the nieat firmer and gives it a 
sweet flavor. It takes about twelve months to cure 
and fully prepare this ham for market. Some of our 
epicures seem to think the ham is better at two years 
old, but our judgment is it is just as good at one year 
old as at any other period. We are now shipping to 
every part of this country and also to England, Erance 
and Germany.” 
I think I hold with those who believe in the older 
ham being the better. It has a greater distinction of 
flavor. I recently came across directions for boiling a 
ham of this kind prepared by the late Mrs. William C. 
Bullitt, of Kentucky, a grande dame of the olden time 
and also a most notable housekeeper. She said: 
“If the ham is quite old it should be soaked in 
water over night; if not over a year old this is not 
necessary. It should be placed in a 
pot and fully covered with water and 
the pot put on the back of the stove 
so that the water will only sim¬ 
mer but never come to an active 
bubbling boil. It should be per¬ 
mitted to simmer as many hours 
as there are pounds in the ham, 
i. e., a twelve pound ham twelve 
hours. Then it should he 
removed from the stove, taken 
out of the water and allowed to 
cool and drain. When cool the 
skin should be removed and the 
ham covered with a mixture of 
grated bread crumbs, spices and 
brown sugar and placed in the 
oven until it has become brown. 
Then it should be removed and 
permitted to get entirely cool before it 
is cut. Never put a knife into a hot or 
even a warm ham. The juices of a hot 
ham follow the knife and half the excellence is 
wasted. The colder the ham is when served the 
better. ” 
I have seen men use condiments such as mustard 
or Worcester sauce on such hams as I have described. 
This is a very great mistake, as either spoils the fine 
flavor of the meat itself. I suspect any one I see 
doing this of having a degenerate palate or none at 
all. An Englishman would do such a thing, of 
course, but an American—no. I once knew a little 
girl who was visiting in England. By way of 
making conversation at luncheon, she said to her 
hostess: “They eat more mustard in England than 
we do in America.” 
“ Do you not use mustard in America ? ” her 
hostess inquired. 
“ Oh, yes, but mostly for plasters.” 
THE RAZORBACK HOG 
146 
