Select sound cabbages and peel off the first or damaged leaves, then slice or shave with a cabbage cutter as fine as possible. The object desired in making first-class Sauer Kraut is to obtain a perfect fermentation under pressure with the aid of salt alone. The brine, therefore, results from the water contained in the salt and cabbage, no water being added. First secure a good strong cask, which should be well scalded and cleaned. Sprinkle on the bottom of this cask a small quantity of salt, then put in a layer of cabbage and while adding the cabbage sprinkle some salt through it, so that the salt is as much divided as possible and then tamp well with a wooden tamper, so as to pack it as tight and solid as possible. Continue putting in layer of cabbage and tamping this way until the barrel is full. The salt to be used should always be of the best grade and one pound of salt to one hundred pounds of cabbage should be used but may be varied according to the taste. Some prefer it saltier than others. After the cask is filled or as full as desired, the cabbage should be covered with a clean cloth on which should be laid hardwood boards. Use the boards taken out of the head of a whiskey barrel or tierce as this makes the best cover, as they fit in the barrel and are made of hardwood and will not give the cabbage a taste. Carefully weight the boards down with heavy stones, always remembering that the fermentation should be accomplished under pressure. Once a week take off the stone, board and cloth from the cabbage and wash them clean and replace the cloth and boards and stones on top of the barrel after they have been washed. By repeating the washing of the boards and cloth and stones every week, the top of the cabbage will be kept perfectly sweet and the foam which comes to the top is removed, so that the top of the Sauer Kraut will be as good as that in the bottom of the barrel. The Kraut should be left to ripen for about four weeks in a warm temperature. It is always best not to offer it for sale until it has sufficiently ripened and is tender and juicy and that it has the proper flavor. This can only occur after perfect fermentation has taken place.