A Plea For Bacon

I tpant to urge itpon farmer readoPi thfe idea oí CTinng their pork into beon, and Keeping some of it for thctr owi tables and naaking a home market tor sueh as they can spare. If they vñl have it on their own tables, peopre unused to it may find out its valué aa a staple article of meat, and a little sold in a town will prepare the way for moro demand nnother year. The truth ia, the publie, ao a bcdy in the North, 60 not know anything abont bacon, and ft i time they did. Pork has atarted fea our local njarkot at six dollars pèf haft ird, nd wül probably run dowb wlthin two month8 to four doUara, What aonsense it le for farniers H) forcs their plgs npon such a mark% Many of them will do it and get rld OT their pigs, and because their families dï not like pork (pickled pork) they will buy beef f attened in Texas or Colorado. This is a sort of economy whioh i largely practieed in this vicinity. If the"pigs should be killed when they weigh about one hundred pounds, and. the entire sides, with all of the lean left on, be made into bacon, the farmer can have in store as nice meat and as nalatable as any beef he may buy, and for the surplus he may realize a priee whicfc will compénsate him for his grain ajid trouble. With the sides made into bacon a pir can be turned into good aö count. The hams and shoulders makB the best of lood, and cost the possessor no extra profits whieh ho has to pay over and above the cosf of the beef, Tesides the freight. In other words, when a farmer buys beef hc pays more than twice the cost of the meat to the producer, and whcn he cures his om piga into hams. shoulders, bacon "d Ia'v and sells them to th oonsumer direct he makes the pró& "thers make out oL him when ie sella his pigs at the pork pr;,.o, lour dollars per hundred weight. When he sells his pork and buys beef, he loses both ways, and if the erxtr price hc pays for his beef over his porti was subtracted from the price o! hte pork, he would rcally get nothingior it; but when he fits ït tor lood so tnat k takes the place of the beef and he does not, buy it, he really doublea its vahw and trebles it, as beef retails at an average of more than twelve cents pound. Pigs must not be extra fat to mako tbo best of bacon, and the spare-rib ena must be left on the ribs, the bone must be cut out, and the sides out square nd smooth; the trimmings can be made into sausage or go with the fat into lard. The first six months is the most growiDg age for a pir, and at this age they are suitablo for the purpose. Aftèr ii...'i tar Hpai" t.n orpt ton thick and f at Bacon may be ourea the sama . v, and shoulders, only it does not requir so long salt ing. Usnally the stilt te rubbed on the pjeoes, and they are piled up for a f ow days to let it strike througjV ITÜree rubbings are nough. It should never be allowed to freezo during th curing and if frozen it must be thawod outby soakina; in water. Bacon wiH take in salt enough, unles the sidos ara very' thick, in three weeks, when it u ready o be smoked. After smnking tt may be in a dry, cool placö or packtid in dry salt or in tight boxes. is always ready for use, and a rasher oí ,rood b&oon is a trat for breaVfast or any meid. As a side dish it has no superior. It may be broiled In dainty bits or f ried in more generous slioes. ft is excellent to tlavor chlokens or stows, and for a stapte maat is far preferabhS to pork. The black and red Berkshlr piga make the best bacon, as they hawe more lean meat mixed with the fat, to red being the best of the two, a they retain more than the others the ot! characteristics of the Berkshire breek not ha-v-ing been made 90 line and thicft in the body by the so-called improv ments.-