381. Drying may be effected by simply draining your salted or pickled meat, and hanging it within the warmth of a fire in a dry kitchen, but smoked dried meat is preferred by most persons, and cer tainly deserves the preference. The fuel employed for this purpose must be wood; sawdust (not deal or fir sawdust) is generally employed. Care must be taken not to melt or scorch the meat; if dried in a common kitchen chimney, it must be hung high enough. The fire must be kept in a smothering state, which may be easily done with sawdust, and in a place set apart for smoking; it is or ought to be kept burning slowly night and day. The best way is to send your meat to persons who make a business of smoking - (not tobacco.) Do not dry your meat in a bakehouse, or strew it with bran when drained for drying; both will render the meat liable to be infested with those voracious little wretches called weevils. Drying meat by a malthouse kiln generally causes it to rust. After smoking, the wrappers should be removed and replaced with clean ones. It is not a bad plan to whitewash hams two or three times, when they are required to keep a long time.

382. Dried or kippered salmon is prepared by cleaning (without washing,) and scaling the fish; split and remove the bone; pickle for two or three days with equal parts of salt and sugar, and a little black pepper and saltpetre; keep it well pressed down; when cured, stretch each fish with a piece of stick, and dry it either with smoke or otherwise.

383. Herrings, etc. must be wiped clean; salted as above; in twenty-four hours take them out of the salt, run a stick through the eyes, and hang them in rows over an old cask half filled with dry sawdust, in the midst of which thrust a red-hot iron.

384. Haddock, cod, and ling, etc. are usually split down the middle for salting let them lie two or three days in equal parts of salt and sugar; then stretch on sticks, and dry in the sun or artificially.