Brine or Pickle for Beef, Ham, Shoulder or Mutton.

50 pounds of meat.

3 gallons of water.

7½ pounds Turk Island salt.

1 quart molasses.

1½ pounds brown sugar.

1½ ounces saltpetre.

1 ounce baking soda. Bring to a boil, skim and let cool. The pickle can be used as long as fresh and sweet.

A piece of beef remaining in this a few days makes the finest corn beef. If it remains in several weeks, it should be soaked over night before using. A round of beef put in this pickle for 4 weeks, and then dried slowly in a cool place, makes superior dried beef.

A handful each of mace and cloves thrown into the brine will improve the flavor of the meat. If it is desired to give the meat a red color, nearly six times as much saltpetre must be used.

Pork should never be put in pickle until 2 days after killing, and during this time it should be lightly sprinkled with powdered saltpetre, which will remove all surface blood and make the meat sweet and clean. Three months will pickle it to perfection, though it may be smoked sooner. In packing pork cover the bottom of the barrel with coarse salt, then lay on it first the hams with the outside down, sprinkling them well on the flesh side with fine salt, then put in the shoulders; in the same way above these the side pieces.

The fire for smoking meat should never be allowed to spring into a blaze. Heat will start the fat of the meat and damage it. Before warm weather brings flies, the meat should be taken down, each piece rubbed over with pepper and molasses and hung up again. Continue smoking, and repeat this operation 2 or 3 times, and there will be no trouble with insects.

How To Restore Pork

In warm weather, the brine on pork frequently becomes sour, and the pork tainted. Pour off the brine, boil it, skim it well, then pour it back again upon the meat, boiling bet. This will restore it, even where it was much injured.

How To Cure Hams

1 ounce saltpetre to each ham.

1 pint of pure molasses to 1 pound of saltpetre.

¼ pound of salt to each pint of molasses.

Heat the mixture almost to the boiling point, and while hot rub into the meat well, especially around the bones. Let the hams he one week, then place in a strong salt brine three weeks. Remove, soak eight hours in fresh water, hang and dry two weeks. Smoke three to five days, according to size. Then wrap in strong tar paper and tie close. Next tie in cotton cloth bags. Separate the paper from the cloth by stuffing in shavings or. sawdust. Hang near the roof.