BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 107 



breeding experiments. One hundred and fifty-seven swine from this 

 farm were supplied to or exchanged with other stations for experi- 

 mental work. Among these was a purebred Duroc-Jersey boar which 

 was shipped to the Belle Fourche Experiment Farm, Newell, S. Dak., 

 to head the herd of hogs at that place. 



Pigs at Jeanerette, La., are fed on rice and other products and 

 when finished are shipped to the abattoir at Beltsville, Md., where 

 the carcasses are graded and chemical and physical tests are made. 

 Investigations at the stations at McNeill, Miss., Huntley, Mont., and 

 Ardmore, S. Dak., are conducted largely for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing detailed information regarding the cost of producing feeder 

 pigs and the feasibility of using tliBm to supply the demand in the 

 Corn Belt. * 



Experiments to determine the effects of lice and worms on the 

 fattening properties of hogs have been continued and are still in 

 progress. 



SLAUGHTER AND CURING TESTS. 



Since all animals ultimately pass through the abattoir for final 

 data on experiments in the various projects, a considerable volume 

 of meat is handled in the course of the year. Advantage is taken of 

 opportunities to conduct experiments in the curing of meats and the 

 preparation of meat products. Particularly are these tests made in 

 connection with soft-pork studies and with methods which may be 

 used when applied under ordinary farm conditions. 



During the vear some work was done on the curino^ of meats with- 

 out refrigeration, with a view to producing mild, well-flavored 

 products which will remain sound and sweet throughout a number 

 of months, and thus avoid losses which now occur in curing pork in 

 the South. Standardized recipes for mild and spicy sausage, 

 smoked sausage, headcheese, liver sausage, etc., are being developed. 



SOFT-PORK INVESTIGATIONS. 



Kesearch work relating to the soft-pork problem, which was be- 

 gun in 1919, has been continued and extended. Experiments in- 

 volving 383 hogs were carried on in cooperation with the State 

 agricultural experiment stations of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, 

 Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, 

 and independent experiments with 247 hogs were carried on at 

 the bureau farm at Beltsville, Md., and the Iberia farm at Jean- 

 erette, La., making a total of 630 hogs used in these investigations. 

 The hogs were fed on peanuts, soy beans, rice by-products, and com- 

 binations including these and other feeds. 



It has been the general conception for years that soft-pork pro- 

 duction was limited practically to those States where peanuts were 

 available for use in fattening hogs. It is now known that other 

 feeds and possibly other factors aside from feed are responsible for 

 a certain proportion of the soft hogs produced. 



Five hundred and twelve of the hogs were slaughtered at Belts- 

 dlle, Md., the remaining 118 being slaughtered at Oklahoma, Okla. 

 All carcasses were graded by a committee. The grading was always 

 done after thorough chilling at a temperature of 32° to 38° F. 

 Each carcass was classified into one of four grades, viz, hard, 



