_Mutton_ should be dark colored, and have plenty of fat. The color determines the age, and age is considered a mark of excellence in mutton. It should be five or six years old to satisfy a lover of mutton. All the joints may be roasted but the saddle, and next to that, the haunch; the leg and loin undivided are the best; chops are cut from the loin, cutlets from the leg, the best end of the neck, or thick end of the loin. The leg and neck are often boiled. _Lamb_ should be small, pale red, and fat. It is best roasted. The leg, when the lamb attains a good size, is excellent boiled. _Pork_ should never be bought except from a butcher whose honesty you are sure of, and who knows where the pork was fattened. It is not a very healthful meat at the best, and none should be used unless corn-fed. There is much bad or diseased pork sold, and it is very dangerous food. If the flesh feels flabby or clammy to the touch, it is not good, and should not on any account be used. If there are kernels in the fat, let it alone. The fat should be hard, the lean white and fine in the grain, and the rind thin and smooth. As soon as your meat of any kind is brought home from the butcher’s, wipe it with a clean dry cloth. If in summer you find any “fly-blows,” which is very common, cut them out at once, and no harm will be done. In the loins a long pipe runs by the bone; that should be taken out immediately, or in a few hours it will taint and spoil the whole joint. If the meat is not to be used at once, dredge it with pepper. Powdered charcoal dusted over meat will help to keep it sweet, or will remove any taint already begun. It is wise to keep charcoal on hand during warm weather; it is wonderfully efficacious in preserving meat, and, if dusted over it while hanging, it can all be washed off when you are ready to cook it. Most meat is more tender and easily digested if kept hanging some time, and charcoal is a great and reliable aid in preserving it. Lamb and veal cannot be kept as safely as beef and mutton. In choosing _Fowls_, bear in mind that the male bird, if young, will have a smooth leg and a short spur, eyes bright and full, feet supple. The hen may be judged by the same signs, and if these are not found, be sure the birds are stale and old. Ducks, geese, and pigeons should have pliable feet; if stiff, they are old. In all the vent should be firm; if discolored or flabby, they are stale. This last sign should be remembered in judging of all poultry or game. The eyes of _Fish_ should be bright, the gills clear red, body stiff, and smell not unpleasant,--or rather, not stale, for we imagine that fish can never be of a pleasant smell, however palatable it may be to the taste. As far as possible, buy all stores by the quantity; if nothing else, you save the weight of paper, no small item in the course of a year; but there is always some reduction when an article is purchased at wholesale. You save the retail commission, if nothing more.