The two go together well. The pig stirs up the soil about the trees, letting in the sunshine and moisture to the roots and fertilizing them, while devouring many grubs that would otherwise prey upon the fruit. But many orchards cannot be fenced and many owners of fenced orchards, even, would like to have the pig confine his efforts around the trunk of each tree. To secure this have four fence panels made and yard the pig for a short time in succession about each tree, as suggested in the diagram, Fig. 17. [Illustration: FIG. 17. FENCE FOR ORCHARD TREE.] CHAPTER X. DRY SALTING BACON AND SIDES. For hogs weighing not over 125 or 130 lbs. each, intended for dry curing, one bushel fine salt, two pounds brown sugar and one pound saltpeter will suffice for each 800 lbs. pork before the meat is cut out; but if the meat is large and thick, or weighs from 150 to 200 lbs. per carcass, from a gallon to a peck more of salt and a little more of both the other articles should be taken. Neither the sugar nor the saltpeter is absolutely necessary for the preservation of the meat, and they are often omitted. But both are preservatives; the sugar improves the flavor of the bacon, and the saltpeter gives it greater firmness and a finer color, if used sparingly. Bacon should not be so sweet as to suggest the "sugar-cure;" and saltpeter, used too freely, hardens the tissues of the meat, and renders it less palatable. The quantity of salt mentioned is enough for the first salting. A little more NEW SALT IS ADDED AT THE SECOND SALTING and used together with the old salt that has not been absorbed. If sugar and saltpeter are used, first apply about a teaspoonful of pulverized saltpeter on the flesh side of the hams and shoulders, and then taking a little sugar in the hand, apply it lightly to the flesh surface of all the pieces. A tablespoonful is enough for any one piece. If the meat at the time of salting is moist and yielding to the touch, rubbing the skin side with the gloved hand, or the "sow's ear," as is sometimes insisted on, is unnecessary; the meat will take salt readily enough without this extra labor. But if the meat is rigid, and the weather very cold, or if the pieces are large and thick, rubbing the skin side to make it yielding and moist causes the salt to penetrate to the center of the meat and bone. On the flesh side it is only necessary to sprinkle the salt over all the surface. Care must be taken to get some salt into every depression and into the hock end of all joints. An experienced meat salter goes over the pieces with great expedition. Taking a handful of the salt, he applies it dextrously by a gliding motion of the hand to all the surface, and does not forget the hock end of the bones where the feet have been cut off. Only dry salt is used in this method of curing. The meat is never put into brine or "pickle," nor is any water added to the salt to render it more moist. BEST DISTRIBUTION OF THE SALT.