_Melting._--It is put through a hasher of the Enterprise type to an open top water jacketed kettle, similar in type to an oleo kettle. Frequently the melting kettle is a wooden vat with a galvanized iron kettle inside, the space between the wooden vat and the galvanized kettle being filled with water which is heated to the desired temperature for melting the product. It is not practicable to use a steam jacket as the heat would be excessive and it would be difficult to control. This kettle properly is water jacketed and open top so no pressure is generated. In a kettle holding 4,000 to 5,000 pounds, water should be warmed in the jacket before lard is put in, the agitator started slowly, not to exceed 10 to 12 revolutions per minute, and the heat should be regulated so as to have the lard all melted and ready to drop in one and one-half hours from the time of starting to hash. By the time the lard is thoroughly melted the temperature should be 126° to 128° F. _Settling._--As soon as the lard is melted it should be drawn off with a siphon into receiving kettles, which are also jacketed and held at practically the same temperature. When dropped it should be salted with one-half to one per cent of fine salt, letting it stand from fifteen to thirty minutes. In drawing off it should be siphoned through several layers of cheese cloth, forming a strainer, into receiving tanks, where it should settle four hours. It is drawn into tierces through a pipe raised from the bottom to leave one and one-half to two inches of lard in the tank, care being taken that no “bottoms” are drawn into the tierce, as these contain tissues which are, for the most part, undiscernible; also moisture. These ingredients in neutral, being only partially cooked, immediately begin to decompose. It is a delicate article to handle and the settling of all impurities is important. The neutral, when drawn into tierces, should be at a temperature of from 115° to 118° F. _Storage._--The tierced lard should be kept at a temperature of about 75° F. for about ten or fifteen hours, and then put into a cooler with a temperature of from 45° to 50° F. The tierces should be filled through the bilge and not closed when stored in the first mentioned temperature, the bungs being left out, while the heat is permitted to escape, thus carrying with it considerable flavor, and making the material more neutral than if the tierces were closed as soon as filled.