Huntsville gazette., 1884-02-23
Fresh Meat for the Farm.

/ 3
er enjoyment of country life is the al
most constant use of salt meats. 1t is
ham for breakfast. salty, oh, how salty!
Then for dinner it is salt pork. boiled or
/ fried Then for supper cold slice of
ham, or boiled cold shoulder, varied
| little by Clipped dried beef, which is
within itself ''pillar Of salt Then it
is drink, drink, from morning to night
| without abatement.
Now. know tAe great difficulties that
| lay in the way of a farmer, located miles
| from city or town, to procure a 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 procura
| daily supply. just think OF it; we sell
| our beef cattle to the butcher for, say
III 'ee cents on foot, and pay for the ar
| tic,e on the hook from twelve and half
to twenty cents per pound, and our
mutton and pork in the same ratio. it
| is not my purpose, in this article, to show
| the relative losses and profits in these
| transactions, but to show my brother
| farmers how they can have frt sh n eat
on Their tables every day of the year,
and every meal of each day if they will,
and that at their own first cost prices.
| Tbs plan of mine-;s not new; yet, l am
safe in saying that it is not practiced by
one rer cent. of the farmers in the ma
ton. Why is this? Ignorance Of tie
| way to do it. 1t can be nothing else.
For there is less labor and work attend
ing tie process of preserving the meats
| put up for home consumption, by keep
ing them fresh, than there is by sailing,
| smoking, wrappingin canvas, and pack
| ing away, as now practiced. A seoond
| great advantage is, that the curing OF
| meats in a fresh state can be accom-
plisked at any season OF the year, no
matter how hot. and that without Ice.
Then, third consideration is the saw
ings of labor to the farmer family dur
ING the hot sweitering summer months,
in fact, all through the wear.
| TO enable any person to understand
the matter, | WI explain by richly
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 tench in
the cellar, open end up. TIE pigs are
killed and cooled in the usual way.
| When the animal heat is all out they
are cut up, cutting off the sausage meat
and lard, the lard cut up ready to be rend-
C ed out The shoulders and sides are
then cut up into such sized pieces as
NAV be conven ent for table use. These
pieces are washed cleanly, and boiled
in large kettles. seasoned with salt and
pepper to make alatable, and when
sufiic. emily boiled for table use they are
placed in barrel closely together, hut
| not pressed or mashed, thus leaving
each piece as near in the shape cut IS
| possible. When the barrel is filled
within two inches of the top, we then
pour in warm lard until all the crevices
7bs tween the pieces of meat are filled
up. cover no the top with one or two
inches of the warm lard Next day we
find that the larl has settled down. we
| fill up again to the top and keep filling
until all has tecome a solid mass Of
meat and lard. This is the whole Sc
cret. You can fill any tight vessel from
a one gallon jar to a forty-five gallon
| arrel in like manner, and If properly
| done, and kept ina 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 at 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 icing
| 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 necessary to keep them.
| Then there is no trouble with flies, bugs
or shippers; the meat remains sweet,
wholesome and palatabie 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
| closely over what is let and thus eX-
| clude the ar.
| There are two great advantages in
| this mode Of keeping meat; one is it is
fresh, easily digested and consequently
more healthy and decidedly more pleas
ant to the taste; and it does not create
that burning thirst that is so hard to
quench on a hot harvest day. Then it
is always ready for table use, and that
witho It requiring your wives daugh-
ters and house help to melt over hot
stove when the mercury is up among
| the nineties, a no small saving in thresh-
ing time.
The only great drawback that l have
found to this plan is that can eat twice
the amount that | can of salted meats;
and. therefore. it requires double the
quantity for family use than under the
sailing process; but | am persuaded
that the difference is made up in better
| health and smaller doctor bills. Try it
on small scale and you will always
| follow it. "A. r., IN Ps,airie Farmer.
Cornell University's mummy is
| truly royal mummy 1t came from the