How To Cure Hams And Sides

There are many ivays lo Oore hams, but sorne of them are not deeirable, uidesq we are sntisfied to eat poor hams in preferenee to pood. A Lam wel] cuiod, wel! smoked and wel] cooked, is n favorito dish with most people, but tliero are very few indeed who can relish ham which has bon hardeoed and ppoiled by aalt, or tainted for the want of sak in curing, and may ba worse spotltd in cookinir; but if ham is sp 'ilud Liy too iDucb sak. or too litüe, er beoomes tainted before the salt lias thoroughly penetrated throngli it, I dely any cook to mtike a good dish out oí it. I havo tried many waya in curing hams, and have lo.tthom sometimus by having beouine raneid and tainted in warm weather, and also by having thein so salt and hard that they wure unpalatable. J have tor sorne twenty years practieed tho follcwing simple reeipo in curing poik hams and shouldora, and find it preforablo to any recipe I ever tried, and wben I have had anv to sell they have taken the preferetice of surja r cured bains with those acquuinted with them. I trim the hams and shoulders in tl. o usual wny, except I cut the leg off close up to the ham and shotilder, to have them pack close, and as benig worthless smoked ; then sprinkle a liltle fine alt on the bcttom oí a sweetcask, and pack down the hams and shoulders proiiiiscuously, as thoy will best pack in, and spnnkle a hillc fine salt on ech laying, just cnough to make it show white; then heat a kettle ol tvoter and T,ut iü salt, and stir wel) until it will h'ear up a good-bized pótalo, between the 6)Zü of a Quarter and a half dollar; boil and skiui tho brine, and pour it od the hams boiling hot, and cover thGiTi all over one or two in hes deep with the brine, having put a stone on the meat to keep it down. I sometimea i:se saltpetre, and Bomciirnes do not; consider it úseles?, except to color the rnoat. I Dow use my judgment ns t tho time to take tliern out of tlie briae. Ii the hams are stnall, they will cure in three weeks, if largo, say five weeks; ngain, if the meat is packed loose, il will take more biine to cover if, consequenlly more salt will penétrate the inoat in a given iime than if it is pocked close; on this account it is useless to weigh the meat and salt for tho brine, as the meat must be kopt covered with the Drine, let it tako more or lesa. Leavo the casks uncovered uni.il cool. When the hams have been in brine lopg cnough, I take them out and leave them in the cellar, ií the weather is not euitable to smoke them. I considor clean corn cobs better for smoking meat than anything I have ever tried, and now use nothing else; continuo the 6moko until it penetrales the meat, or the skin becomes a dark cherry brovvn. I then wrap the pieces I wish to keef in paper, any time before tho bugs or flies have deposited theireggSQD Thom, and pack them down in casks with dry ashas, in the cellar, where bo'.h hams nr.d shoulders will keep as good as when packed, through tho summer or yenr. Cured in thie way, it is hard to distinguish betwi:cn the shoulder and Üani when boiled. A largo ham will often taint in the middle beíoro salt or brine will penétrate through. HOW TO CURB S1DK PORK. So much for smoked meat; now il any one wishes to havo his side pork a little beiter, and keep better than any lio has over had, let him try my way, and if he is not satisfied, let me know it through the Ohio Farmer. Take out the bono and lean moat along the back, cut and pack tho pieces nnugly in the barrel, put moro salt on the bottom and on each laying of meat than will probably penétrate tho meat; thon boü and skim tho brine (if it issveet ) and add enough to it to cover vour meat two 01 three inchca over the top, made strong like the ham brine; and aasoon as you pack your mcat,.pour the brine on boiling hot; il ■wil] penetra'. e the mest much quicker than cold brine, and giw t aniinprovec flavor. Wliile I was making and' pouping the brine on tny hams and pork jus! now packed, I thought the public might bo benefitod by a knowlüdge o my way of curing meata. I thereforc publish it. Try it- A. Ayhworth, in Otio Farmer. No Fito.NT Tkktii. - A nmsician recently uudertook to trado cows with a certaiu neighbor II - , but after somc baufering II - tolJ the man that his "oíd cow was not wortb a 6Qng," sho was so oíd she had uo front teeth in her upper jaw, and couldn't tliorofore eat young gra.-s Singiog fïieud laugbed, lookcd wiso, and went ofi' whistling. But the reinark of II - liad preyed 00 his mind, and hc aocordingly weut aud examined old brindle's moutli, and to Lis horror nnd surprise ho found that it was cntirely doátituto of upper front tecth ! Infuriatcd, he drovo old brindlo two niile.s tes the house of a man lid had bought her of, llirough a driving rain storm, with mud up to his kneos, aud after berating the surprised farmer for selling him such a cow dtmanded I1Í3 muuey back at once. As soon as he couk! get a word in cdewiae, the farmer told the angry man that cows ncver wore such teeth on the upper jaw, and to couvince him, took him out to t he kiruyavd, when, aitor opening the moutlis of a dozeu or so cattle, young and oltl, the singing man drove old brindie into thü road, and triulgcd homo boliiud her a sadder and wiser man. EP" Why uro the rebol leaders like turkeys ? Wlion their necks are Ktretuhocl, thero will bo a general thankegiving.