portion. You
must let the beef lie in salt ten days, then take it out, brush off the
salt, and wipe it with a damp cloth; put it in the brine with a bit of
board and weight to keep it under. In about ten days it will look red
and be fit for the table, but it will be red much sooner when the brine
becomes older. The best time to begin to salt beef is the latter end of
October, if the weather be cool, and from that time have it in
succession. When your beef is taken out of the tub, stir the salt about
to dry, that it may be ready for the next pieces. Tongues are cured in
the same manner.

* * * * *

TO DRY BEEF FOR SUMMER USE.

The best pieces for this purpose are the thin briskets, or that part of
the plate which is farthest from the shoulder of the animal, the round
and rib pieces which are commonly used for roasting. These should not be
cut with long ribs and the back-bones must be sawed off as close as
possible, that the piece may lay flat in the dish. About the middle of
February, select your beef from an animal well fatted with corn, and
which, when killed, will weigh one hundred and fifty per quarter--larger
oxen are always coarse. Salt the pieces as directed, let them lie one
fortnight, then put them in brine, where they must remain three weeks:
take them out at the end of the time, wipe them quite dry, rub them over
with bran, and hang them in a cool, dry, and, if possible, dark place,
that the flies may not get to them: they must be suspended, and not
allowed to touch any thing. It will be necessary, in the course of the
summer, to look them over occasionally, and after a long wet season, to
lay them in the sun a few hours. Your tongues may be dried in the same
manner: make a little hole in the root, run a twine through it, and
suspend it. These dried meats must be put in a good quantity of water,
to soak, the night before they are to be used. In boiling it is
absolutely necessary to have a large quantity of water to put the beef
in while the water is cold, to boil steadily, skimming the pot, until
the bones are ready to fall out; and, if a tongue, till the skin peels
off with perfect ease: the skin must also be taken from the beef. The
housekeeper who will buy good ox beef, and follow these directions
exactly, may be assured of always having delicious beef on her table.
Ancient prejudice has established a notion, that meat killed in the
decrease of the moon, will draw up when