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Mutton

This is the flesh of the sheep. The best mutton, and that from which most nourishment is obtained, is that of sheep of from three to six years old, and which have been fed on dry sweet pastures. The flesh of sheep which have been reared on salt marshes, or on farms near the sea-coast, is also sweet and wholesome; the saline particles abounding in such situations imparts both firmness and a fine flavour. To suit the palate of an epicure, a sheep should never be killed earlier than its third or later than its fifth year, at which age the mutton will be found firm and succulent, dark-coloured, and full of the richest gravy. Mutton of two years old is flabby, pale, and savourless. To ascertain the age of mutton the following directions may be given. Observe the colour of the breastbone when a sheep is dressed, that is, where the breastbone is separated. In a lamb, or before the sheep is one year old, it will be quite red; from one to two years old, the upper and lower bones will be changing to white, and a small circle of white will appear round the edge of the other bones, and the middle part of the breastbone will yet continue red; at three years old, a very small streak of white will be seen in the middle of the four middle bones, and the others will be white; and at four years old, all the breastbones will be of a white or gristly colour.