Camp cookery (Milam, for Boy Scouts)

Baking in a Hole Dig a hole in the ground about 18 inches square and 12 inches deep. Place kindling in it and over the hole build a cob house bylaying split wood sticks across, not touching each other, and so on until you have a stack two feet high. Set fire to it and burn to coals. Cut up the meat, and season, adding a small piece of fat pork. Put in a kettle, pour in water to cover, put on the lid, rake coals out of the hole, putting the kettle in. Shovel the coals around and over it, cover all with a few inches of earth and let it alone over night. Baking An Animal in Its Hide If the animal is too large to bake entire, cut off what you want and sew it up in a piece of its hide. Line the hole with flat stones. Rake out coals and put meat in, cover first with green grass or leaves then with coals and ashes and build a fire on top. When done remove the hide. Baking in Clay Dress the animal, but leave the skin and hair or feathers on. If it is a large bird, cut off the head and feet and pinions, and pull out tail feathers and cut tail off (to get rid of oil sack). If fish, do not scale. Stir clay in a pail of water until like thick porridge. Dip the bird in this, and repeat until it is a mass of clay. Lay this in the embers or ashes, being careful to dry the outside. Bake until the clay is almost burned to a brick. This mode of cooking should never be tried in regions where there is not real clay. Venison — to dress and cook "If possible, skin the deer while yet warm, and it will save trouble. To skin a frozen animal is difficult. Hang the deer by one hind leg, cut the skin from the top joint to the second joint of the leg, make an incision around the hock and then begin the process of skinning downward. It will peel quite easily if handled gently. When the legs are bare, cut the skin down the center of the body to the breast, being careful not to cut into the flesh. Then with gentle force, draw the skin off the whole carcass, using the knife when necessary. A sharp knife is indispensable. The head may be skinned or it may be cut off without. After the deer is skinned, hang up by the hind legs, insert a sharp knife in the breast and split open the full length. Open the deer and keep open with a smooth and slender stick. Put the hand above the kidney and, with a gentle pull release the entrails, which v/ill come out easily, leaving the liver, heart, and lungs. The animal is now ready for use. Let it hang for twenty-four hours before cutting up. Then split in quarters, the hind quarters being the best. The flesh, if roasted, will be dry if bacon is not used on it. Grill chops over hot coals or on red hot griddle. Do not try to fry in fat. The liver and heart are good baked in a pan in the oven with onion and small cubes of salt pork." — Kephart's "Camp Cookery." Rabbits and Squirrels Rabbits and squirrels are pests to the farmer and except in the spring of the year are desirable food. The "gray digger" squirrel and the "cotton tail" rabbit are abundant in many sections of the country. The Scout in utilizing such game for food not only adds variety to his diet in camp but performs a distinct service to the farmer.