The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-02-29


One Of the greatest banes to the prop
sr enjoyment Of country life is the al
most constant use of salt meats. Il il
ham for breakfast, salty. oh. how salty!
Then for dinner t is salt pork. boiled or
fried. Then for supper cold slice Of
ham, or boiled cold shoulder, varied .
little by Clipped dried b,ef. which is
within itself . ''pillar of salt Then IL
is drink, drink. from morning to night
without abatement.
Now. know the great difficulties that
lay in the way of farmer, located miles
from city or town, to procure q daily
supply of fresh meat from the markets,
to say nothing of the unbearable cost Of
such proceeding to those who live
close enough to market to procurs .
daily supply. just think of it; we sell
our beef cattle to the butcher TO-. say
tn ZEE cents on foot, and pay for the ar
tic on the hook f. ON twelve and hall
to twenty cents per pound. and our
II tlttOn and pork in the same ratio. il
is not my purpose. in this art Gle, to show
the relative losses and profits in these
transactions, but to show my brother
farmers how they can have fr sh eat
on the tables every day of the year,
and every meal of en- IN day # they will,
and that at their own first cost prices.
This plan of mine not new; ct, am
safe in saying that it is not practiced by
one per cent. of the farmers in the ma
ton. Why is this? Ignorance Of the
way to do it. 1t can be moth ng else.
For lere is less lab II and work attend
ing t. process of preserving the meats
put up for home consumption, by seep-
ing them fresh. than there is by sa'ting,
smoking, wrappingin canvas, and pack
ing away, as now practieed. A second
great advantage is that the curing of
n eats in fresh state can be accom-
plished at any season OF the year, no
matter how hot. and that W thout Ice.
Then, a third con Iteration is tie saw
ings of labor to the farmer family dur.
ing the hot sweltering summer months.
in fact, all through the wear.
To enable any person to understand
the matter, l will explain by riefiy
stating what we are now doing in the
way of preparing our fresh meat for
next summers use. In the first place,
we have as many lard or pork barrels
as will be necessary to hold a supply Of
meat for the family. These barrels are
clean, sweet, and tight, one end taken
out. They are arranged on ench in
the cellar, open end up. 7 pigs are
killed and cooled in the usua way.
When the an NAL heat is all out they
are cut up, cutt.n off the sausage meat
and lard, the lard cut up ready to be rend-
e ed out The shoulders and sides are
then cut up into such s2ed pieces rs
may be cOnven ent for table use These
pieces are washed clesnly, and boiled
in large kettles. seasoned with salt and
pepper to make ,al table. and when
suffic emily boiled for table Use they are
placed in barrel closely together. tut
not pressed or mashed. thus leaving
each piece as near in the shape cut Is
possible. When the barrel is filed
within two inches of the top we then
pour in warm lard until all the crevices
between the pieces of meat are filed
up. cover ng the top with one or two
inches of the warm lard. Next day we
find that the lard has settled down; we
fill up again to the to o7and keep filling
until all has become q solid mass Of
meat and lard. This is tie whole &C.
cret. You can fill any tight vessel from
a one gallon jar to forty-fiye ga lon
ariel in like manner. and properly
don, :, and kept in q cool place the meat
will keep fresh and sweet the year
round.
The advantages of this process Of
keeping meat are manifold You can
kill fat hog a. any season Of the year,
and its own fat can preserve it. and the
fat can be used for culinary purposes
just the same as when put up in cans
for home use. The shoulders can be
thus prepared, and when cold are far
superior to alt meat. even after te'ng
boiled. The sides when cut in square
pieces with the ribs on, are Just as good
as when cooked fresh in the fall OF the
year. Hams, whole, when well cooked
and seasoned, retain all their sweetness,
and that without being impaired by the
excess of salt necessars' to keep them.
Then there is no trouble with flies, bugs
or shippers; the meat rema ms sweet,
wholesome and palatab'e until the last
piece is taken from the bottom. All the
care necessary in taking the pieces from
the barrel is TO press the lard down
clOSelN over WHO ID leu dhu tuu6 ca
clude the air.
There are two great advantages in
this mode of keeping meat; one is it is
fresh, easily digested and conse ,uently
more healthy and decidedly more pleas
ant to the taste; and it does not create
that burn ng thirst that is so hard to
quench on hot harvest day. Then it
is always ready for table use, and that
witho requiring your wives. daugh-
tiers and house help to melt over hot
stove when the mercury is up among
the nineties, no small saving in thresh-
ing time.
The only great drawback that / have
found to this plan is that can eat twice
the amount that can of sailed meats;
and. therefore. it requires double the
quantity for family use than under the
sailing process; but l am persuaded
that the difference is made up in better
health and smsller doctor bills Try it
On small scale and you will always
follow it. "A. r., tn PTaT5e Farmer.