The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-02-24

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alfalfa hay and feed the mules
and horses, and they soon made
short work of the Beers.
ON RAISING HOGS.
Alfalfa is a good food for hogs,
both in the green and dry state.
| feed my brood sows during the
winter half fine cut alfalfa hay
and ground corn and barley;
scald the cut hay and mix with
the barley and cornmeal into a
thick heavy Slop and feed it to
them warm. | give them the run
OF the COW yard. Sows should
have plenty Ofexercise and should
never be put into a pen except to
iarrow | arrange to have my
Sows come in twice a year, April
and October, and as soon as the
SowS have farrowed in April, |
feed as above, and as the young
pigs commence to eat at the
trough | turn them out into
the alfalfa field and feed only the
barley and cornmeal. and when
the pigs are six weeks old and
the alfalfa has strongly started, |
mark and ring the pigs and let
them go, except to throw them
an ear of corn apiece every day,
and by the first of October they
are ready for the early market
and will average about 100 pounds
each. and if no corn has been
feed to them during the summer
they will run about 100 pounds.
This weight hog is in good de
mand in October for early cutters.
The October pigs | let run with
the sOwS on the alfalfa field until
the ground commences to freeze.
| then take them out of the alf
alta field and wean and ring them
and run them on winter kale
( pasture and give them two ears
of corn each a day. If the
ground is covered with snow, so
| that they cannot Craze on the
kale, | feed them mixed slop
ration, and April 20 turn them
into the alfalfa field and feed an
ear of corn to each until the first
week in Novem Der, when | put
them to feed pot and give them
all the corn that they can eat and
plenty of clear water to drink,
and about the first week in De
cember these hogs are ready for
the knife and will dress about
$50 pounds. A we'll set alfalfa
field will Craze five hogs to the
acre during the growing season
without hurting materially the
hay field.
The value OF alfalfa as a for
age crop and how to start it and
grow the crop, President Sill
vester, of the Maryland Agri-
cultural College, is teaching the
boys and impreSSing its value
upon the farmers at their insti.
tutes and club meetings. Di
rector I'll. j. Patterson, of our
experiment station, who long
since found out its value, has
issued several bulletins on alf
alta, and any farmer in the
State can write to President Sill
vester or Director Patterson and
have all these bulletins, or any
information on the subject that
he may desire mailed to him on
application.
RECIPE FOR MARYLAND HAMS.
1t is from the October pigs that
the famous Maryland alfalfa ham
is obtained. The hogs are IA
months old and never have been
in a pen. When the hogs are
killed and the animal heat is out
of the meat | trim the hams and
lay them on boards and rub them
with a mixture of 10 pounds of
saltpetre, 80 pounds of granu
lated sugar and 40 pounds of fine
salt.
This will be sufficient for 100
hams. | let them remain on the
5! boards for three days, then put
them in cement vat in the meat
house and make strong brine that
will float an egg. To this brine
add 3 gallons of New Orleans
molasses and 40 pounds of gran
ulated sugar. | pour the brine
over the meat and keep it under
the liquid for six weeks. | then
hang the hams up in the smoke
house and smoke continuously
for 10 days with dog wood and
hickory wood and try not to have
a break in the smoke. After the
hams are smoked | take them
down and wrap them in good
manila paper and put them in a
strong muslin bag, with hand.
full of cut hay. This will absorb
any dripping from the ham. |
then sew the ham in the muslin
bags, dip them in a thick lime
whitewash and then hang them
in the comb of the meat house
and let them age and cure for two
years, after which time they are