To one gallon of water put two pounds and a half of common salt, one ounce of saltpetre, half a pound of coarse sugar, boil it for a quarter of an hour, and be particular while boiling to remove every particle of scum while rising, that it may be as clear as possible, let it be cold when poured upon the beef. If it is desired to make the pickle last for a very long time, add a gallon of spring water to the above quantity, which should, if for keeping, be also spring water, add three ounces of saltpetre, two pounds of bay salt, and a pound and a half of coarse brown sugar. Whatever joints are put into this pickle, they should be kept closely covered down. Prepare thus the beef for pickling, keep it as long as you can without taint, spread over it coarse sugar, and let it remain for two days to drain. Rub the beef thoroughly with the pickle, and let it remain in it eight, ten, twelve, or fourteen days, according to its size and quantity; a considerable quantity of beef may be pickled together, indeed the closer it is packed the better, so that it is covered with the pickle and kept tightly down; when they are taken out of the pickle, lay some sticks across the pan and let them drip into it, when as much has fallen from them as will, wipe them dry, and they may either be cooked at once or dried; if the latter be determined upon, after having well dried them, smoke eight hours over burnt sawdust and damp straw, or sew them in a cloth and send them to the baker, and let them hang seven or eight days. Do not, as in the other receipt boil the pickle before using the first time, but after it has been once used, and every succeeding time, observing that it must be kept skimmed, and each time of boiling add a quart of water and a couple of pounds of salt. This pickle will answer equally well for hams or tongues.