14. Mutton

The meat should be arm and close in grain, and red in colour, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep is about five years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily separates; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-coloured, the fat inclining to yellow, the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if squeezed, drops of watei ooze out from the grains; after cooking the meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh.

15. Lamb

This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the neck is bluish in colour when the fore quarter is fresh, green when becoming stale In the hind-quarter, if not recently killed, the fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have lost its firmness.

16. Pork

When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed or diseased pig-

17. Bacon should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm and tinged red by the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short, thick one, is to be preferred to one long and thin.

18. Venison - When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the haunch; and from the smell the cook must determine on dressing or keeping it.

19. Turkey

In choosing poultry the age of the bird is the chief point to be attended to An old turkey has rough and reddish legs; a young one smooth and black. Fresh killed, the eyes are full and clear, and the feet moist. When it has been kept too long, the parts about the vent begin to wear a greenish, discoloured appearance.

20. Common Domestic Fowls, when young, have the legs and combs smooth; when old, they are rough, and on the breast long hairs are found instead of feathers. Fowls and chickens should be plump on the breast, fat on the back, and white legged.

21. Geese

The bills and feet are red when old, yellow when young. Fresh killed, the feet are pliable, stiff when too long kept. Geese are called green while they are only two or three months old.

22. Ducks

Choose them with supple feet and hard, plump breasts. Tame ducks have yellow feet, wild ones red.

23. Pigeons are very indifferent food when they are too long kept. Sup pleness of the feet show them to be young; the state of the flesh is flaccid when they are getting bad from keeping. Tame pigeons are larger than the wild.

24. Rabbits, when old, have the haunches thick, the ears dry and tough, and the claws blunt and ragged. A young hare has claws smooth and sharp, ears that easily tear, and a narrow cleft in the lip. A leveret is distinguished from a hare by a knob or small bone near the foot.

25. Partridges, when young, have yellow legs and dark-coloured bills. Old partridges are very indifferent eating

26. Woodcocks and Snipes, when old, have the feet thick and hard; when these are soft and tender, they are both young and fresh killed. When their bills become moist, and their throats muddy, they have been too long killed. (See Food in Season, 48 to 59.)