It is simply to use the same quantity of common soda as saltpetre - one ounce and a half of each to the fourteen pounds of ham or bacon, using the usual quantity of salt. The soda prevents that hardness in the lean of the bacon which is so often found, and keeps it quite mellow all through, besides being a preventive of reast. This receipt has been very extensively tried amongst my acquaintance for the last fifteen years, and invariably approved.