butter the size of an egg, salad oil or
butter to baste with, about 1/2 pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of
lemon-juice.

[Illustration: ROAST SUCKING-PIG.]

_Mode_.--A sucking-pig, to be eaten in perfection, should not be more
than three weeks old, and should be dressed the same day that it is
killed. After preparing the pig for cooking, as in the preceding recipe,
stuff it with finely-grated bread crumbs, minced sage, pepper, salt, and
a piece of butter the size of an egg, all of which should be well mixed
together, and put into the body of the pig. Sew up the slit neatly, and
truss the legs back, to allow the inside to be roasted, and the under
part to be crisp. Put the pig down to a bright clear fire, not too near,
and let it lay till thoroughly dry; then have ready some butter tied up
in a piece of thin cloth, and rub the pig with this in every part. Keep
it well rubbed with the butter the whole of the time it is roasting, and
do not allow the crackling to become blistered or burnt. When half-done,
hang a pig-iron before the middle part (if this is not obtainable, use a
flat iron), to prevent its being scorched and dried up before the ends
are done. Before it is taken from the fire, cut off the head, and part
that and the body down the middle. Chop the brains and mix them with the
stuffing; add 1/2 pint of good gravy, a tablespoonful of lemon-juice,
and the gravy that flowed from the pig; put a little of this on the dish
with the pig, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Place the pig
back to back in the dish, with one half of the head on each side, and
one of the ears at each end, and send it to table as hot as possible.
Instead of butter, many cooks take salad oil for basting, which makes
the crackling crisp; and as this is one of the principal things to be
considered, perhaps it is desirable to use it; but be particular that it
is very pure, or it will impart an unpleasant flavour to the meat. The
brains and stuffing may be stirred into a tureen of melted butter
instead of gravy, when the latter is not liked. Apple sauce and the
old-fashioned currant sauce are not yet quite obsolete as an
accompaniment to roast pig.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours for a small pig.

_Average cost_, 5s. to 6s.

_Sufficient_ for 9 or 10 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to February.

HOW ROAST PIG WAS DISCOVERED.--Charles Lamb, who, in the early
part of this century, delighted the reading public by his quaint