servation 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.

A rude platform or bench of planks is laid down, on which the meat is
packed as it is salted. A boy hands the pieces to the packer, who lays
down first a course of middlings and then sprinkles a little more salt on
all the places that do not appear to have quite enough. Next comes a layer
of shoulders and then another layer of middlings, until all these pieces
have been laid. From time to time a little more salt is added, as appears
to be necessary. The hams are reserved for the top layer, the object being
to prevent them from becoming too salt. I