ton is in its prime when the sheep is about five
years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the
flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it
wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily
separates; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep
diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-coloured, the fat
inclining to yellow; the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if
squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains; after cooking, the
meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to
that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of
the thigh.

15. Lamb.

This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the
neck is bluish in colour when the fore quarter is fresh, green when it
is becoming stale. In the hind quarter, if not recently killed, the
fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have
lost its firmness.

16. Pork.

When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when
changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy.
Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed
or diseased pig.

17. Bacon

should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm, and tinged red by
the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture
of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state
of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if
particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the
curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in
such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short thick
one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Of English hams,
Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Hampshire are most esteemed; of foreign,
the Westphalian. The bacon and "sugar cured" hams now imported in
large quantities from Canada and the United States are both cheap and
good.

18. Venison.

When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To
know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the
haunch; and from the smell the cook must determine whether to dress it
at once, or to keep it a little longer.

19. Turkey.

In choosing poultry, the age of the bird is the chief point to be
attended to. An old turkey has rough and