Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-11-02
County Fairs and Hog Killing


Wednesday we went to Florence
to a county fair, and I want to tel
you some things about it that may
help you in yours.
1t was strictly county fair, nc
admission charge, no imported
horse racing, no Straightforward
tricks to foster, or start a gambling
fever.
Al of the exhibits of the com
munity fairs of Lauderdale county
are brought there and prizes given
the best. You wonder where the
money for the prizes comes from. I
don't suppose a fair that charges for
admission ever let's the merchants.
chamber of commerce and public
spirited citizens off very light. This
money could go into prizes instead
Of expenses. Booths are easily
erected, and a nominal sum charged
each exhibitor and every one deco
rates his own booth to suit his
taste.
People for miles around meet at
the fair. We live twelve miles from
Florence and met people who lived
eighteen and twenty. Good roads
SNSIl Olu uODUll dUlG 10 get
there on time, and autos eat up the
distance in short order.
With the avowed purpose of hav-
ing a real agricultural show, live
stock and poultry included, the peo-
pie take their best, and the county
is one to make any other sit up and
take notice. The farmers and fan
ciers of that county don't mind
spending money to make money.
Good stock properly cared for is
certain to return good dividends on
the money invested, and I've never
seen county's collection of pure
bred poultry that was any better
Almost invariably there are a few
pens Of what should be labeled
"culls," but not any Of that class
was shown in the Lauderdale coun.
ty fair.
The farmer who runs this place
was just as enthusiastic over the
corn, potatoes and beans, and pro.
nounced it a. "topnotcher' So
don't get the idea that you must go
to lot Of expense and erect build
ings to have a fair. Surely you
have a vacant block that can be
utilized. Go thou and do likewise.
The cool weather has come; Jack
Frost caught all sorts of late crops
and has made the laggards begin
to see about getting wood for the
winter. This cool snap also reminds
the farmers and their wives that
hog-killing time will slip up on us
before we know it. I am getting
my sausage bags ready. I use the
same bags until they draw up toe
much.
Ii you have never put up sausage
this way, try a little, and next year
you will thank me for the sugges
ton. I use a good grade of cheese
cloth, make my bags large enough
for the farmer to put his fist in, and
thoroughly pack the sausage meat
A strip ten inches wide when doubled
makes five inch bags, and eighteen
inches long is about right, as they
cannot be we'll packed if too long
nor will they keep as we'll if toe
large. We roll ours till they are
round, and tie them securely. I've
heard Of some people putting their
sausage in flour sacks and making
them flat, but this other way leaves
less of the surface exposed, and it
can be cut to better advantage. We
hang ours and let it cure for sew
eral days, or weeks, just according
to the weather; then we melt para
fin, or parawax, and see that every
part of the bag is we'll covered. This
keeps here until in May, and to my
way of thinking beats those in lard.
A 10. H.
we again hang them in the smoke
house, but of course they are not
there while the meat is being
smoked.
And that brings me to the ques-
tons I've received about how we
cure our meat. The farmer says
that he takes out the backbone the
day he kills, and then leaves it un-
til next day, unless there is danger
of freezing. If so, he cuts it up right
away. But if you can leave over
night it cuts smoother. He sprin-
kles it after it is blocked out and
lets it lie two nights, which gets
all Of the animal heat out. He does
not salt it down in a deep box. His
is just foot deep and sets on legs
that raise it at least two feet from
the floor. He says that just about
all the pieces he ever saw spoil were
in deep boxes. Ours has a hinged
top that can be propped up.
A number Of people in this com
munity lost a quantity last winter,
but the farmer on this place says
the only meat he ever lost was his
very first hog killing. The meat
here is ''tolerable heavy" the hams
last year averaged % pounds, and
the rule here is to let them stay in
the salt from four to five weeks. II