Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-11-26
QUITTING AND CURING NEAT.

9fftH Il
~ CUTTING AND CURING NEAT.
Edito, 1telligeneer::t s~ge4a,orgig
Al many Of our farmers think, Of
putting up bacon instead of selling
,heir.hoSs, afew biuts from q, seller
of the article may DO Of use to them.
Il IL really astonishing that SO much
bacon put up in tho country IL of in-
ferior quality, when we consider that
those who put IT. UP arc, rs q class,
intelligent people, who 10 their work
as a general thing iu workmau.like
manner. This probably arises from
q lack of appreciation Of the irnport-
ance of the subject. A very little paius
taken with meat w.ll be amply re-
warded. Well trimmed bacon always
sells nero readily and at a better
price than meat thatsisMot well trim
med. No careless person will trim
meat nicely, and this should DO ut.
tended to by some one Interested, in
making . nice looking cut. The side
should DO cut perfectly square, the
loia stripped out, and no jagged
edges left upon it. 1t should he sub.
sequeptly handled so rs TO preserve
It's shape. The shoulder should be
trimmed square, not TOO close, mld
the leg sawed of two to three inches
from the shoulder according to the
size, but never longer. Cutting it off
At the Joint, as ID commonly practicrd,
leaves alouger handled than necessa.
ry. and il a waste 10 tho buyer, where
MS tho curer 4 always make good
use of it Mhilst tue meat is green.
The ham, which from ifs higher price
IL the most import ant piece, should
be closely drimmedy cut round mud
smooih, leg cut off close, oil fat re.
moved ii ON the sides ana cnds, hip
bone sawed Oft flush, leaving only the
parts that will be used wien cured.
lSupposing that tho animal .hcat has
passed OF before the meat was cut, il
lis then ready for sailing. which can
he done to advantages on q tight
floor, or on q bench, say four feet
wide, length AL ii6its:ra. with a side
boarl to the height of the meat de-
sired TO be packed. Spread M inch
Of salt on the bottom. make n layer
or meat upon this, cover with salt.
make another layer, ani SO on antil
all tho meat is down. This will All
swcr for the sides aud shoulders.
! The hams sNUuld be more carefully
h.ul!ch, aud will well repay It;
they should be. packed separately.
Have prepared. IL. quantity OF pure
ground saltpctrr, pure ground cay
cnne pepper. pure ground black pep
per and common brOwH sugar. Put
on each ham q dessert spoonful of
ealtpetre, rubbing it carefully over
the fiesi, side: ihcn sprinkle il libcr-
ally with the red. aad black peppers;
then put oii.as much sugar as you can
get to lay OH the ham, to. the depth
of say one.quarter of an inch, lin
it carefully and lay it upon the bct
Of salt prepared "fof IL; proceed thus
until YOU lave a layer, wtienitiu. all
the %interstices with salt. aud covcrto
Il sufficient depth 10 receive the next
layer. This will require 10 the 100
lbs. Of meat 1 ia rfsu'sds saitpctrc,,
l LIZ Tbs. pepper and Ia lbs. sugar;
costing say so So. If, ANY of your
readers think it will not. pay, let
them pnt .lip part pain mud badly
trimmed and part we'll TRINA ned and
sugar cured, aud put both on the
market together. liams, shoulders
aud sides should be allowed to re-
main in the first salt five Or six
weeks, unless the weather should be
excessively cold, when longer VIII be
necessary. They should then DC
taken up and carefully resulted. The
hams viii, have absorbed The sa!tpetre
and sugar, and will only mcei SILT.
But 1t is very necessary TO ~resali, as
the charge Of position u their
getting salt in all parts. The meat
should lie in the second sailing al,uu,
two weeks, when it il ready TOR
smoke. This should be done with
good, clean hickory wood. if pus>i-
Bile; ii not, with the next best avuila-
bic ma,crinl, bur by all means not
with chips, mixed with DIRT aud I'M
puritics which inpart u bad Odor.
The meat should he smoked to II
delicate brown iimge, and should
come out neither white nor cooked.
Ii the smOkc-iiOusc is dry and dark
the shoulders aud sides will Ito very
well hanging where they are smoked,
especially it it is Intended 10 sell of
the shoulders early, as is generally
done; but the hams should by all
means be camvasscd, aud that before
tic month OF March. BY procuring
cotton aud making square bags, FULLY
Lar 90 for the largest ham, aud en-
velupng the hams in hay, freed iron,
seeds aud dust, before putting ilicm II
the bags, the am may be used for
wears, aud the hams will come cut
bright and dry am.l clean. n ham
placed in o closc-tilting cotton bag
Imprinted, without hay or other pro
lrc,iom between it and the bng, is not
protected from flies. | would par.
liicularly insist OIL the Importance oi
close trimming and CAREFUL curin.
The buyer dues not want to pay for
what lc cunnOt use. Ono reason
why city sugar cured hams will al
ways bring from two To i've ceilii
more than country hams, il That they
are very closely trimmed aud there
is 10 waste, one Gr two pounds o
WASTE amounting to more Than tllt
difference in price.
Respectfully, es@<shs.
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rhe Postas.Teicgrnph che ne.
WAsHINGTYN, ID. e., Nov. 81