BACON CURING ON THE FARM."

By LOUDON M. DOUGLAS.

PIG FEEDING.

The great extension which has taken place during recent years in dairy farming has made pig breeding an important part of rural economy. It has been shown over and over again that no better food for raising pigs can be obtained than separated milk, provided that the butter fat which has been taken away is replaced by some other source of fat, and provided also that the milk is pasteurized. Milk in the complete state may be set down as the perfect food. If, therefore, it is found expedient to remove the fatty matter, very little knowledge will be necessary to devise means of restoring a fatty equivalent. Maize meal, together with potatoes, would seem to give the best results, and after that may be placed a mixture of barley meal and potatoes, mixed in either case with pasteurized, separated milk. The rules governing pig feeding can thus be reduced to great simplicity, a fact which is fully recognized. Farmers are at last taking to pig breeding seriously, as the agricultural returns clearly show. During 1902-03 the total increase in the pig population of the British Isles amounted to nearly 500,000, whereas in Great Britain alone the increase was 17 per cent over the previous year, or over 380,000. ̧ This is just as it should be. The long campaign waged against disease, by the Department of Agriculture has at last been successful, and farmers can with some feeling of security embark on this business. As the signs of disease become scarcer so also the supplies of pork products from the United States are reported short and unequal to the demand, even in that country.

CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.

It was from the United States that we received the bulk of our foreign bacon; and now that the population there increases so rapidly, while the available pig supply does not increase, it is clear that the exports of surplus bacon must grow less and less.

This article, which is copied from Farmer and Stockbreeder Year Book, 1904 (London), is an excellent supplement to a previous article by Mr. Douglas on the curing of bacon, which was published in the Annual Report of this Bureau for 1897. This article should be read in connection with the one entitled "Meat on the farm," immediately preceding this one.

The economic conditions of the United States are so adjusting themselves that we have to rely upon our own produce more and more. This is propitious for the future and means a large betterment of our rural conditions. We have for many years been relying to a large extent on the surplus pig products of other countries, owing to the fact that these were supplied to us cheap, and we have thus lost the art of making bacon on the farm. It is true that in some counties, notably Yorkshire and Dumfriesshire, home curing of bacon still lingers, but only in a perfunctory way. This is a pity and can easily be altered, for, after all, there is no difficulty in learning the business. A very ordinary amount of intelligence is all that is required.

CURING IN A SMALL WAY.

Farm buildings as constructed at the present day lend themselves to such an extension as bacon curing in a small way requires. There is usually a dairy, and it is so constructed as to be very cool. That is the one condition necessary for successful curing. Coolness must be provided above everything. More than three-quarters of a century ago Cobbett remarked: "Confined air, though cool, will taint meat sooner than the midday sun accompanied with a breeze." It is difficult to agree with much that Cobbett writes, but in the statement given he surely could not have written more concisely a truth well recognized at the present day. Coolness is a necessary condition of good bacon curing, but it must be a fresh coclness. Now, it is easy to imagine such a place as part of the ordinary buildings of a farm. It is not necessary to excavate. The old notion that a cellar must be underground is exploded. You can get quite as low a temperature on the ground level if you are careful in your construction. You can, too, the more easily get fresh air when you want it.

A small establishment capable of handling a few pigs at a time would consist of a slaughterhouse, a cellar with curing beds and pickle tanks, and a smokehouse, and would cover a space of, say, 28 by 22 feet. It would be quite possible to do without a regular slaughterhouse, but such would undoubtedly be advantageous in many ways. We will assume therefore that a slaughterhouse will be provided. In it will be the necessary appliances, which consist of

1. A windlass for hoisting the pigs to the sticking bar.

2. Singeing furnace.

3. Cold-water tank for cooling the carcasses after they are singed. 4. Track bar on which to dress and dismember the carcasses.

5. A few small tools, such as knives, saw, chopper, and also some convenient receptacles, such as pails.

Opening from the slaughterhouse will be the cellar. The walls, if constructed for the purpose, should always be built with a hollow space

a Cottage Economy, ed. 1835, p. 116.

so as to prevent radiation as far as possible. Round three sides there should be a raised stone bench, having flagstones on the top. The

FIG. 57.-Plan of slaughterhouse.

width should be about 3 feet 6 inches, and not only should the flagstones be sloped downward from the front to the wall, but a channel should

also be formed so that pickle when formed will run right round and discharge into a pickle tank at the far end. In the center of the place

a stone bench should also be constructed similar to the bench round the walls and sloped also in the direction of another pickle tank. The pickle tanks collect all the pickle which is formed in the curing, and this can be used either for pumping the bacon, or the tanks are used for containing heads, feet, houghs, etc., which are always cured in pickle.

SMOKING.

The smoke stove should have a few bars fixed at a convenient height, so that bacon and hams can be hung on them sufficiently above the fire not to get melted. The height of the cellar need not be greater than 7 to 8 feet, and, as has been indicated, it should be pretty solidly constructed. There need not be any windows, inasmuch as sunlight destroys the color of bacon. Any ventilation that may be necessary can be provided by means of an opening ventilator near the ceiling and which can be opened occasionally. The opening of the doors will, however, provide nearly all the ventilation necessary. The height of the slaughterhouse had better be somewhat greater than the cellar, say 18 feet, if possible, to the wall plate. The roof should be of corrugated iron with plenty of ventilation all round. There can not be too much freely circulating air in this department.

HANDLING THE PIGS.

In such a structure the process of handling the pigs is very simple. The pigs, having first been well rested in the adjoining pigpens, are driven one by one into the sticking pen, where a shackling chain is at once passed round one of the hind legs, and the animal is hoisted onto the sticking bar, hanging head downward. In this position a knife is passed quickly through the neck in the direction of the aorta, or main blood vessel of the heart, and quickly withdrawn. The blood at once rushes out, and in a very short time the animal is dead. It is then pushed along the bar and dropped onto the table of the singeing furnace, from whence it is carried by means of a little overhead trolley into the furnace itself. Here it rests for a quarter of a minute and is at once withdrawn and plunged into the cold bath alongside. From this it is raised, either by a windlass or by hand, onto the track bar, and is scraped by means of a flat scraper. (The pig is suspended by the hind legs by means of a gambrel passed through the sinews.) As soon as the black matter is removed by the flat scraper the carcass is washed by throwing a few scoopfuls of water upon it, and is opened and the offal removed. Each portion of this has a separate use and value, and great care should be taken so as not to waste any portion. The intestines should be cleansed and salted and used for sausage making. The heart and liver can be used as wholesome food. The lard should be hung up to cool and harden, and should be rendered down for domestic purposes. The kidneys and steaks are tidbits which can easily be disposed of.

WHEN THE OFFAL IS REMOVED.

The carcass when freed from offal should then be divided and the vertebral column removed. There will then be two sides, to one of which will be attached the head. This should be removed, as also should the fore feet. The sides should then be left hanging up to cool and dry. Usually this means hanging them till next morning, when, if the weather is cool, they will be ready to be put into salt and be cured. In the meantime such offal as the head and feet should be attended to. The head should be cut in two--the lower jaw removed from the upper. This, with the tongue still in it, should be cured in pickle and smoked. It is known as a "Bath chap." The top part of the head should be split in two and the brains removed. The two pieces should then be cured in pickle, and form a nice dish when cooked.

WILTSHIRE METHOD.

The main business is to cure the sides, and first of all for this purpose it is necessary to prepare a pumping pickle. This pickle is very important, as it is required for injecting into the meat, and consists of—

55 pounds salt,

5 pounds dry antiseptic,
4 pounds fine saltpeter,

1 ounce sal prunella,

5 ounces cane sugar,

made up to 20 gallons with pure spring water and stirred till all the ingredients are dissolved. Should it not become clear it will be necessary then to boil it and skim off the thick matter which will rise to the top.

The sides are cut down from the hanging bar and trimmed nicely; the sparerib is removed and the blade bone drawn out. The pumping pickle is then injected all over the fleshy parts, so that the meat is permeated at once with it. Immediately this is done the sides are laid on the curing benches and sprinkled over with an equal mixture of dry antiseptic and saltpeter. On the top of this is laid a heavy coating of fine salt, and the curing then begins. It is not necessary to touch the sides again for about fourteen days, when they will be cured mild and can be taken out, washed, and dried, if mild-cured meat is desired. For keeping meat, however, it will be necessary to replenish the salt at about the fourteenth day and leave it for another seven days anyway. This treatment will be necessary for sides weighing about 60 pounds each; for heavier sides a longer time in salt will be necessary, both for mild-cured and for long-cured meats. At the end of the cure the meat should be taken up and washed in cold fresh water, dried with a cloth, and hung up to dry. If wanted smoked, three days' smoking will be sufficient. Sometimes pea meal is dusted over the H. Doc. 743, 58-2—25