Pound some rock salt, saltpetre, and common salt, and some coarse brown sugar, mix it all well together, then put it all to get hot, and while hot rub the hams well with this, repeating it every morning for a week; let them lie in the brine for another week, until all is well incorporated in the meat; then take them out to drain on dishes, flour them and hang them up to dry; you must be guided a good deal by the size of the hams.

The Virginia method of curing hams, (which is considered very superior,) is to dissolve two ounces of saltpetre, two tea-spoonfuls of saleratus, in a salt pickle. as strong as possible; for every sixteen pounds of ham, add "molasses in the proportion of one gallon to a hogshead of water, then put in the hams and let them remain three or four weeks. Then take them out of the brine and smoke them with the hocks downward, to preserve the juices. They will smoke tolerably well in the course of a month; but they will be much better to remain in the smoke-house two or three months. Hams cured in this manner are well flavored, and will keep a long time.