The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-11-16
The Egis and Intelligencer
Bel Air, Md, November 1G, 1888.
Deer Greek Farmers Club.
Hogs ana Curing Bacon.

dcncu of ). Is. and Geo. L. Silver, last Saturda
and talked about "Fattening Hogs and Curr
Bacon" Besides the active members tn, re wci
present HeSsrs WIN. II. Bay less, Geo. ii. GOrrcl
5 VI. Baycss aud Albert 7. Silver
CSC. u. Silver said that the first requisite
faItcning pork was to have Il good hog. Th
Berkshire makes the best meat but does nc
grow as rapidly as the Chester. Ii Saleable
would prefer the latter to grow for market. Fo
his own would take the berkshire, the met
OF which is sweeter, of closer gram, the TAT an
thy shuats. give them all the milk you can spare
potatoes, sop from the house and grass. The
should not be fattened on corn entirely, as it
TO, heating 1t is cheaper TO fatten in IL pei
and not let them root. Mr.. Silver's receipt TO
curing bacon is Us follows
uushel of salt to 900 lbs. of pork;2 lbs salt
pltre, , lbs brown sugar. Mix the saltpetre ant
sugar with bushel of salt, and rub the mea
well with it, Sprinkle the other bushel of sal
over the meat as you pack it. Then make
pickle strong enough to float an egg and pour j
meat remain in salt five or six weeks.
1t is important to have good smoke house
He is building new one and wanted to hear sug
gcstions on the subject. He had stone smoE!
house, hut the meat does not keep well IN It,
SMOKE house should be high and dry and built o.
fra nc. TO keep the fly out 1t should be dark
Hickory wood is best to smoke with.
j nm Moores suggested that it would be good
plan To have the smoke house large enough tt
cut up and salt the meat in it. The smoke house
should he near the house, on account of the con,
yvnirncp of getting meat every day. He thought
tlss X hogs decidedly the best. good hog from
h 900 months old makes the best bacon. He fat
tens on corn and all the milk and Stop from thu
house. Feed them all they Will eat three times
day. Have a clean warm bed and encourage them
to he down as much as possible. 1t is good
pinu to have hogs follow cattle, having rings II
their noses. He suggested black pepper as an adj
ditiUn to MIR Siiver's receipt for curing bacon
Pat plenty of it on when the meat Is packed
down and some more when the meat Is hung W
To Keep the flies Off One pound OF good saltpetre
isrnough for 600 lbs. OF pork. HICKORY wood OF
corn cohs make II good smoke. The meat should
be kept in Il dark house after being smoked.
When smoked it should be packed down, each
piece separately, in nice dry timothy hay 1t
must be smoked cool, and good plan IS to have
the fire on the outside. Three or TOUR Weeksls long
enough to smoke it,
tirm. IA. Gorreli prefers white hogs, as you get
more meat from them than from any Others at the
same age. Berkshires are expensive to feed
Hogs fattens fas CT and take less corn when kept
ina close pen. When the not weather comes
meat should be packed in oats, hay or bran, but
hc has sometimes packed 1t away and at other
times let hang in the smoke house and could see
no difference. Meat left in the smoke house gets
hard. A single roof is better than slate for
smoke house, as the latter becomes heated After
being cut up, meat should be thrownin into pickle
aud ii large seven weeks is not too long to leave it
Hogs should be fed the morning they are killed
VIM Munnikhuysea said hogs should be at least
II year Old to make good bacon, ana should be
Kept in good growing order all the time. If you
iatten poor pig it will be all fat. Inc BERKSHIRE
makes the incest meat, and Tor the iced they eat
the cheapest. Pickle makes bacon soft. In curing,
mix fine salt and saltpetre, rub the hams and
shoulders well and sprinkle salt over the meat as
you pack it. One pound of saltpetre is enough
tor lOOO lbs. He uses no sugar II the weather
is soft 3 weeks is long enough to let small meat
remain in salt; When you draw 1t out, sprinkle
black pepper plentifully over 1t and let II hang
day before you smoke it, 1t should only be smok-
cd on dry sunshny days. 1t should hang or
9 feet from the fire. The meat house should be
light, and frame is better than stone. Take the
hams down about the lst of April and put them
III large paper bags, tieing astring lightly around
The hook, and hang them up in the smoke house.
Paper is better than muslin. Do not smoke the
meat too fast or too much. He uses hickory wood
or corn cobs
r. John Rogers likes a cross of Berkshire or
Essex and Chester. The pure-bred Chester is too
fat. Salt down heavily with fine salt rubbing
the hams and shoulders well and pack down.
after three days the meat will settle. Then
make strong pickle, and for 1000 lbs. of meat
take Y gallon of moalsses and i ID. of saltpetre.
Dissolve the saltpetre and moasses in warm
water and add to the pickle, pouring it over
the meat. Cover it up and leave 1t from to
weeks. Draw it out, drain it OIL and hang it up.
Cobs are the incest to smoke with. After being
smoked put the hams and houlders in muslin bags
lie them npghtly and ZIP the 6agsn n
is done before the flies come say the LIST of March,
the meat will never be spoiled.
s. Martin Bayless said he did not like hogS and
never owned but one. If he had any he would
put three or four rings in their noses and keep
them tight pen In curing meat ne Hses ba ae
meat and leaving on all that WILL stick TO the
teshy side. Pack it down. cover it with pickle
and let il remain from to Z weeks, according to
size. His smoke house is two stories with wash
house underneath. The fire is made below. BY
a slide in the chimney up stairs the smoke is al
towards warm weather, then bags the hams and
shoulders dips them in whitewash and hangs them
Judge Walters prefers Berkshire hogs. There
is no difficulty in making them weigh from 250
10 300 lbs. at Is months old which is agood age at
TO let them run in clover field. An advantage
with the Berkshire is that they may be allowed
to run with the cattle in The barn yard all win
ter without getting NANCY. In curing he uses
dry salt and little saltpetre rubbing it on WELL
9E ay be- be- wn Tn %eek PaGsng
ing to the weather Smoke in a frame house and
don't smoke on damp foggy days. After being
smoked rub black pepper on it and put it in paper
bags and >kippers will not trouble it, He uses
hickory wood
Albert p Silver prefers Berkshires to any other
He thought more depended the curing than
the kind of smoke house Rub the meat with
ground alum salt when packing it down, one
Dushel OF salt to 900 lbs. OF meat. Uses salt
petre. Let it stand couple of days. then cover
it with pickle. Allow it to remain to weeks,
draw, drain ii Off and rub it well with black pep
per and fine salt in the proportion of two parts
of salt to one of pepper. SmOte with hickory
wood. He did not think darkness was any pro-
lection against the skipper fly, and frame house
is preferable to stone.
Bennett ii. Barnes said he knew little about
hogs, but few years ago some hogs had been sent
to his father from Virginia. They called them
self-sharpenerS, their noses being liz inches long,
The meat, however, was the best he ever ate. His
meat house is of frame and stripped, but built of
stone 2 feet above the ground. The meat is 8 or
l0feet above the fire. He has heard no complaints
of meat not keeping.
given to hogs than in the breed, but he preferred
Berkshire. 1t is important not TO let a pig get
stunted. In fattening hogs the pens should
be kept clean He fattens in Il large rail pen,
feeding the corn on the ground. Hogs should
have II little grain or rich slop during the sum-
mer. Early spring pigs make the cheapest meat.
If cared for they will average from $50 to l75 lbs
by the fall. In curing he packs down with plenty of
salt-better too much than not enough. Sprinkles
the meat with black pepper and saltpetre when
hanging it up, and smokes with chips from the
wood-pile.
James Lee thought great deal OF the Poland
China hog, to sell for pork, but for his own use he
preferred Berkshire. He packs in dry salt. and
never uses pickle. When hanging meat up he
uses black pepper, and when sufficiently smoked
puts 1t in dry muslin bags. His meat house is
similar to Mr.. Bayless's. 1t has single roof
The meat is left in 1t all summer.
Thomas A. Hays packs his meat in long trough,
rubbing the mans and shoulders with fine salt and
using some sugar; more a yep upon tne time
of the weather than the amount of salt used
Frozen meat will not take salt. He smokes with
hickory wood but it is not well to smoke in damp
weather. The Berkshire is the pig of pigs and
the hog of hogs; They furnish the most meat at
e ssex or Poland China hnr
year and Is months old will make the incest meat I.
Young hog meat cooks away very much: tits
The meat should be nicely trimmed, and he al
ways splits the middngs. In killing hogs he
splits them down, and raises the leaf-lard while
warm. They thereby cut up easier and the leaf
lard can be taken out more easily. The floor of
his smoke house is sanded several inches deep,
to catch the drip.
Edward p. Moores prefers the Essex, as being
more compact of quckergrowth, and they never
let you forget to feed them. He don't like pick
ling meat.
II. Harris Archer thought there was more money
in good grade hogs than in full bred. There is as
raise Hogs should be made fat before cold
weather comes. He fattens his hogs in the field,
allowing them to run on old grass, which he re-
garded as good as clover. Hogs ought to be ready
TO kill when the first cold snap comes say the last
of November or the lst of December. A great
deal of meat is ruined by salt. He puts his meat
in brine and never had any to spoil. Pack it in
an open box and let the brine drain Off Put
sugar and saitpetre on the hams and shoulders
and trim them closely, 70 lard and sausage
meat
Thos. A. Hays added that feeding corn entirely in
fattening IS not economy, but change of feed is