The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-11-19
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From the Farmer and Pla'
CURING RACON,

Mr.. Editor: Ii every member o: a ooan
,munity, and each member of a family
constituting that community, was as am
bilious to fill the place they occupy with
proPriety rs your correspondent, Lucy"
what a vast increase OF domestic comfort,
harmony and happiness would it Afford
We, therefore, asad You the result of our
experience for more than forty years as
regards the best mode we have discovered
Of curing and saving bacon. for the benefit
Of this model farmers wife, and Others
-"no think they might profit by our en-
perience. 1t is hardly necessary to notice
the weather to be chosen for killing hogs,
as all will agree that q clear dry atmos-
pherc is best, avoiding warm rainy spells
if possible, but let your hogs be Killed in
the after part Of the day instead of the
morning, so as to give the animal heat q
better chance o. escaping il the cold, fros.
ty night cHt up your hogs in the morn
ipG, ana be sure the animal warmth is all
out before you salt. The practice of some
who cut out and sprinkle a little salt over
their meat while itis yet warm, is the
best method they could devise to have
strong, rancid bacon. Let you killing,
cutting up and sailing all be done in day
light, so as to ensure a clean, handsome
JOB. lfyour bacon is for sale il will com
inand a better price it handsomely cut up.
joints trimmed, &C., which is done with.
out loss, ms what you cut from these is
more valuable in sausages.
I~.Saihay.-Ta every joint put a tea
spoon level full of pulverized saltpetre,
varying n little more or less, agreeable to
the size of the joint pack down your
pork all in one bulk on a plank floor
joints, middlings and jowls, if you have
ten or twenty thousand lbs, using the
several pieces so as to make the bulk
as compact a. possible; put one BUSH
ell and a peck Of salt TO every thou
sand pounds Of pork the time you leave
it to take salt must be regulated by the
weather, from four to five weeks; If the
weather is cold and freezing during a
greater part ofthe time, you may let il re-
WaiR ip pulk 8 weeks, but the appearance
of the skin will indicate when it should be
hung up to smoke; this will become a
little soft and slippery.
Smoki"g.-use no pine, rotten wood
or any decaycd vetagetable substance
Oak, hickery and cedar we deem the best
10 smoke VIII, And now we go for saw
ing our bacon. Ttsko down your joints
before the skipper-hie has laid an egg or
made his appearance it this is not done,
all your labor will be in vain to keep them
from injuring and perhaps spelling your
joints. Now five cents worth Of homes
spun will make q bag for each joint of
meat, or you may wrap the cloth around
the joint, securing it with a little -four
paste, w%hitewash and hang it up; this
will secure 1t against shippers. And now
we come to tue rats that are as fond of
old ham as old cheese. have at a trif
ling expense--compared With the adyan-
tsges | reap-secured my barn, corn crib
and smoke house against these depre.
dators. My smoke house is built of logs,
sills hewed by a line on the inside, so that
q brick floor will not allow a rat or mouse
to pass between bricks and sill ; about 8
l-2 feet from the ground outside, is a bell
OF tin, 8 or 10 inches wide; below the tin
belt the openings are daubed with clay
like any other log cabin; the door is heavy,
and made to shut close, so that q mouse
esnrot pass in or out, except the door be
left open. My bup and corn crib stand
upon blocks sawed 8 It. long, 2 IL feet are
let into the ground, made firm by pound
ing in rock instead Of dirt, aud then each
block has a band Of tin about 8 inches
wide around it, and all is safe from rats or
mice. Buildings made safe in this way
must stand apart BY themselves where no
Imb.of a tree VIII allow them to climb
above the belt Of tin, or drop on the roof
81 the building. We have communicated
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