Prices.

The price of mutton varies with the seasons, but a table giving the
average price may help the purchaser to an estimate of the comparative
cost of each cut:

Hind Quarter, 15 cents.
Leg, 17 cents.
Loin, with flank, 13 cents.
Loin, without flank, 20 cents.
Fore Quarter, 8 cents.
Trimmed Chops, 20 cents.
Untrimmed Chops, 12 cents.

When one has a large family it brings all kinds of meat considerably
cheaper to buy large pieces untrimmed, as the trimmings can be used
for soups, stews, etc.; but for a small family, it is much better to
purchase only the part you want for immediate use. Although mutton
costs less per pound than beef, it is no cheaper in the end, because
to be good it must be fat, and mutton fat, unlike beef fat, cannot be
employed for cooking purposes, as it gives a strong flavor to any
article with which it is used.


LAMB.

Lamb is cut and sold like mutton. Being much smaller, however, a hind
or fore quarter is not too large for a good-sized family. Lamb will
not keep as long as mutton, for, being juicy, it taints more readily.
It is of a delicate flavor until nearly a year old, when it begins to