Although respectable butchers may, in most cases, be relied upon for the goodness of the meat which they sell to regular customers, yet many persons (both ladies and gentlemen) go to market and choose for themselves, when, if not competent judges, the inferior sorts generally fall to their lot. In country towns, also, there are frequently but one or two market-days in the week; and the meat being brought from a distance, it is an essential point of good housekeeping to be so well acquainted with the quality as not to be easily imposed upon.

Beef

"Well-fed beef may be known by the texture and color; the lean will exhibit an open grain of deep coral-red, and the fat will appear of a healthy, oily smoothness, rather inclining to white than yellow. The suet firm and white. Yellow fat is a test of meat of an inferior quality. Heifer beef is but little inferior to ox beef; the lean is of a closer grain, the red paler, and the fat whiter. Cow beef may be detected by the same signs, save that the older the beast the texture of the meat will appear closer, and the flesh coarser to the sight, as well as harder to the touch. The grain of bull beef is coarser and closer still, the fat hard and skinny, the lean of a deep red, and it has a stronger scent. Ox beef is the richest and largest; but in small families, and to some tastes, heifer beef is preferred, if finely fed. In old meat, a streak of horn runs between the fat and lean of the sirloin and ribs; the harder this is, the older, and the flesh is not finely flavored; that is to say, the horn has become so firm as to appear like bone; but oxen are always the better if kept until five or six years old.

Ox Tongue

To choose a neat's tongue, it should be of moderate size, plump, firm, and smooth to the touch; for if the skin appears rough and shrivelled, it will be found hard and flavorless.

Veal

When you observe the kidney well surrounded with fat, you may be sure the meat is of good quality. The whitest is not the best .veal; but the flesh of the bull-calf is of a brighter color than that of the cow-calf. The fillet of the latter is generally preferred on account of the udder. There is a vein in the shoulder very perceptible; and its color indicates the freshness of the meat; if a bright red or blue, it is recently killed; if any green or yellow spots are visible, it is stale. The suet will be flabby, and the kidney will smell. The other parts should be dry and white; if clammy or spotted, the meat is stale and bad. If more than eight or ten weeks old, the flesh becomes coarse. You will, of course, get it somewhat cheaper, and it may, to some palates, be found equally good in flavor, but not so delicate in either the color or the texture of the flesh.

Mutton

The best is of a fine grain, a bright color, the fat firm and white. It is better for being full-grown. The ram mutton may be known by the redness of the flesh, and the sponginess of the fat. The flesh of the ewe is paler, and the texture finer, but neither the meat nor gravy so well flavored, though a " maiden ewe," when it can be got, is considered particularly fine. If you wish to have a good haunch, choose one of small size and moderately fat, looking at the same time to the closeness of the grain and the whiteness of the fat; but more particularly see that the flesh is dark-colored, that being a proof of age, and the older the better. In boiled mutton this is not of so much importance as in roasted.

Lamb should be eaten very fresh. In the fore-quarter, the vein in the neck being any other color than blue betrays it to be stale. In the hind-quarter, try the kidney with your nose; the faintness of its smell will prove it to be stale. It loses much of its nicety of flavor after it reaches four months old. It ought, therefore, to be small and white in appearance, and well covered with fat; the younger the more delicate.

Pork

The rind should be thin, the fat very firm, and the lean white; the principal point to be observed is the firmness of the fat. If the rind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be impressed by the finger, it is old. Pigs that are short in the legs and bodies, and have thick necks, and not long heads and ears, are always to be preferred. When fresh, the flesh will be smooth and dry; if clammy, it is tainted. What is called "measly pork" is very unwholesome, and may be known by the fat being full of kernels. Pork fed at still-houses does not answer for curing in any way, the fat being spongy. Dairy pork is the best.

Porkers from three to four months old are the most delicate, and six months is the latest age at which they should be killed as such.

Bacon

If the rind be thin, the fat firm and of a reddish tinge, the lean tender, of a good color, and adhering to the bone, you may conclude it is good and not old. If there are yellow streaks in it, it is rusty.

For hams, stick a sharp knife under the bone, and also up to the knuckle. If it comes out with a pleasant smell, the ham is good; but do not buy it if the knife has a bad scent. Hams short in the hock are best; nor should long-legged pigs be chosen for any purpose.

Brawn

The horny part of the young brawn will feel moderately tender, and the flavor will be better than the old, the rind of which will be hard.

Venison

The fat should be clear, bright, and thick; and if the cleft of the haunch be smooth and close, it is young; but if the cleft is close and tough, it is old. To judge of its sweetness, run a very sharp narrow knife into the shoulder or haunch, and you will know by the scent. Few people like it when it has much of the haut-gout; but it bears keeping better than any sort of meat, and if eaten fresh killed it is not so good as mutton. Observe the neck of a fore-quarter; if the vein be bluish, it is fresh; if it have a green or yellow cast, it is stale. In the hind-quarter, if there is a faint smell under the kidney, and the knuckle is limp, the meat is stale. If the eyes be sunk, the head is not fresh. When you can learn where it has been reared, choose forest-venison, as that is the best; for some of the dealers stall-feed the deer, and fatten them with oil-cake. It should be full five years old.

In every sort of provisions the best of the kind goes furthest, cuts up to greatest advantage, and affords most nourishment. Round of beef, fillet of veal, and leg of mutton, are joints that bear a higher price; but as they have more solid meat, they deserve the preference. It is worth notice, however, that those joints which are inferior may be dressed as palatably, and, being cheaper, they ought to be bought in turn.

In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and aitchbones of beef are often bruised by the blows the drovers give the beasts, and the part that has been struck always taints; therefore, do not purchase these joints if bruised.

All meat should be carefully examined, and wiped with a dry cloth as soon as it comes in; and if flies have blown upon it, the part must be cut off. This should be daily observed until it is dressed, as it not only tends to preserve the meat long in perfection, but prevents that musty flavor too often perceived in the outer 6lice when brought to table.

In the country, where meat is often carried a great distance, it should be well covered up with a cloth, over which fresh cabbage-leaves would keep it cool. These cautions are more needful, as in some families great loss is sustained by the spoiling of meat. The fly may in some measure be prevented by dusting upon the parts most likely to be attacked, pepper and ginger mixed, after wiping which should never be omitted; but a more easy and effectual* mode is to exclude the fly by using a wire meat-safe, or to cover the joints with a long loose gauze or thin cloth, and hang them up from the ceiling of an airy chamber.

In summer meat should be wiped every day, or sprinkled with pepper to keep off the flies; and should it wear any appearance of becoming tainted, it should be brushed over with pyroligneous acid; or even if already slightly infected, either the acid or roughly-pounded charcoal, if well rubbed into the meat, will restore it. The meat should also be brought in early in the morning, as, if much exposed to the sun, the heat will render it flabby. In frosty weather, meat is sometimes in a congealed state, and should be thawed by soaking it in cold water before putting it to the fire.

Meats become more tender, and consequently more digestible, as well as better flavored, by hanging; but veal and lamb will not bear it so long as the flesh of older animals. In summer, two days is long enough for lamb and veal, and from three to four for beef and mutton; in cold weather, these latter may be kept for more than double that time without risk of being tainted.