When it is desired to pickle pork by pouring brine over the filled barrel, the following method is a favorite: Pack closely in the barrel, first rubbing the salt well into the exposed ends of bones, and sprinkle well between each layer, using no brine until forty-eight hours after, and then let the brine be strong enough to bear an egg. After six weeks take out the hams and bacon and hang in the smokehouse. When warm weather brings danger of flies, smoke a week with hickory chips; avoid heating the air much. If one has a dark, close smokehouse, the meat can hang in it all summer; otherwise pack in boxes, putting layers of sweet, dry hay between. This method of packing is preferred by some to packing in dry salt or ashes. [Illustration: FIG. 16. BOX FOR SALTING MEATS.] RENEWING PORK BRINE. Not infrequently from insufficient salting and unclean barrels, or other cause, pork placed in brine begins to spoil, the brine smells bad, and the contents, if not soon given proper attention, will be unfit for food. As soon as this trouble is discovered, lose no time in removing the contents from the barrel, washing each piece of meat separately in clean water. Boil the brine for half an hour, frequently removing the scum and impurities that will rise to the surface. Cleanse the barrel thoroughly by washing with hot water and hard wood ashes. Replace the meat after sprinkling it with a little fresh salt, putting the purified brine back when cool, and no further trouble will be experienced, and if the work be well done, the meat will be sweet and firm. Those who pack meat for home use do not always remove the blood with salt. After meat is cut up it is better to lie in salt for a day and drain before being placed in the brine barrel. A HANDY SALTING BOX. A trough made as shown at Fig. 16 is very handy for salting meats, such as hams, bacon and beef, for drying. It is made of any wood which will not flavor the meat; ash, spruce or hemlock plank, one and a half inches thick, being better than any others. A good size is four feet long by two and one-half wide and one and one-half deep. The joints should be made tight with white lead spread upon strips of cloth, and screws are vastly better than nails to hold the trough together. CHAPTER IX. CARE OF HAMS AND SHOULDERS.