If it is quite salt, let it soak twenty-four hours. Cut off the end of
the knuckle-bone; put it into a pot with cold water at the back of the
range to simmer slowly for eight hours; then take it off the fire, and
let it remain in the water until nearly cold; then peel off the skin
carefully, make spots at uniform distances with pepper, and wind fringed
paper around the bone. Mrs. Lestlie boils her hams with a bed of hay in
the bottom of the pot. Some sprinkle grated bread or crackers over the
ham when trimmed, and brown it in the oven; others brush it thickly over
with glaze. However well cooked, it would be utterly ruined if it were
not cut into thin, neat slices for eating.