=Smoking.=--After the meats are washed and hung in the smoke house, they should be allowed to dry about three hours, or until they stop dripping, for if the smoke is applied while the meats are still dripping, wherever one piece of meat is subjected to the dripping of another, the smoke fails to take effect, giving the meats a striped and discolored appearance. The meat, thoroughly dry, fire should be built in the smoke house with either hickory, maple or oak wood (partially green being preferred) and the temperature brought up from 112° to 118° F., and maintained until the surface of the meat has become thoroughly dried and has a partially glazed appearance. As soon as this effect is noticed, which will be in five to eight hours, hardwood sawdust should be added, which will form a dense, penetrating smoke. At the same time the temperature should be gradually increased in the smoke house, or brought up to from 115° to 120° F. A pile of sawdust, quantity depending upon the size of the smoke house used, should be raised in the center of the house and a few burning brands of wood laid around it. These will cause the sawdust to ignite and a small fire, producing a great deal of smoke, will result therefrom. If the sawdust is put on a fire already burning much of the sawdust will go up through the house in the form of a light ash, which is deposited upon the meat, injuring its appearance. A house of sweet-pickle meats should be smoked for about twenty-four to thirty hours, to get good results, and be allowed to stand for twelve hours with the ventilators open, to give the meat a chance to thoroughly cool off before discharging. =Gas Smoking.=--The growing scarcity and consequent increased cost of wood is forcing many packers to use gas and sawdust for smoking. With this system the use of sawdust and gas is made in combination, the gas being burned by slow delivery through a perforated pipe, and the sawdust banked nearby to burn with a creeping fire. The use of steam coils for heating the house is a valuable assistance particularly if exhaust steam is available for use. =Temperatures.=--The following temperatures will be found to give very satisfactory results in smoking and while it will be found impossible to adhere to them absolutely, it is advisable to do so as closely as possible during the smoking period: 3 hours in smoke 107° F. 6 hours in smoke 114° F. 9 hours in smoke 116° F. 12 hours in smoke 118° F. 15 hours in smoke 119° F. 18 hours in smoke 118° F. 21 hours in smoke 120° F. 24 hours in smoke 118° F. 27 hours in smoke 119° F. 30 hours in smoke 115° F.