No: 5. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 367 



notice how well that bundle of muscle fiber along that backbone is 

 protected; notice this spinous process covering it — this fat on the 

 outside. Now, when we si)lit down the side of that backbone, that is 

 just about where you make your cut, isn't it? Or do you cut down 

 a little bit further like that? 



SECKETARY CRITCHFIELD: About there. 



PKOF. TOMHAVE: All right now, that's what you do; then you 

 leave the entire backbone in one piece; you have a small amount of 

 meat on each side; you haven't a piece that you could carve when it 

 comes to the table, because the vertebras are held intact. Further 

 than that, you put that piece of meat in the oven to roast it and you 

 will find that instead of having the juices in the meat when you get 

 through, they are in the dripping pan and that bundle of muscle 

 fiber is hard and dry, because the whole thing has been opened up 

 and you are losing a large amount of nutrients, besides which you 

 are reducing the palatability of that piece of meat. 



Now, take that heavy bundle of muscle fiber right there; it is ex- 

 posed and if you put it in the curing vessel it comes out hard and 

 dry and you are not making the most economical use of that piece 

 of meat. Now, then, in curing meat we want to expose as little of 

 the lean as possible; the lean portion, such as the loin, should always 

 be used as a fresh meat product. There is a certain trade, and it 

 is very limited at that, English trade, that demand that sort of a 

 cured product with just the center of the backbone taken out, but 

 that comes from a light hog and there they cure the hams and the 

 bacon and the shoulder all in one piece or sometimes with the 

 shoulder removed. There is a very limited trade that demands it 

 and the packers to-day are cutting the hog's carcasses by taking out 

 the commercial loin because it is by far the most economical method 

 of cutting it. The way you do that is to separate the loin, as indi- 

 cated on that chart, from the bacon strips or the middle right there 

 where we find that break in that bundle of muscle fiber, and make 

 that cut something like that on that end. On the other side, we cut 

 just below that heavy bundle of muscle fiber, then make the cut 

 parallel to the backbone, with the result that we have here the loin 

 with its fat back. Don't take this and let it go into the kitchen in 

 that manner, don't take your knife and cut or chop oflf that end or a 

 roast or whatever it may be and ask the good housewife to use that 

 for a roast, because there is too much fat there and in this day and 

 age we don't require, we don't care for as much fat as our fore- 

 fathers. This fat should be taken from the back of the loin and cut 

 up for lard. You will find that the average farm home never has any 

 over-abundant supply of lard. Take that fat off the back of the 

 loin, just leave enough there for a covering and put it in the lard 

 kettle and you will get more out of the carcass and the housewife will 

 appreciate it a good deal more and you will find that the youngsters 

 will not be compelled to cut off this piece of fat and put it at the 

 side of the plate, which they are bound to do if you try to make them 

 eat it. 



A Member: When we take that middle strip out, we get it all at 

 once. 



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