PARf il.— THE CANADIAN EXPORT TRADE. 



In the United States there is an immense home market for lard and oleo- 

 margarine (artificial butter). In Canada we have no trade in oleomargarine, 

 and a very much smaller home market for lard. The American packer, there- 

 fore, can utilize very fat hogs, manufacturing lard and oleomargarine from the 

 fat and placing only the leaner carcases and the lean parts of the fat carcases 

 upon the market to be consumed as meat. On the other hand, practically all 

 the Canadian hogs must be consumed as meat; and as there is a very limited 

 and decreasing demand for fat pojk the production of a leaner class of hog 

 has become a necessity in Canada. Great Britain is the home of the export 

 trade in pork products of both Canada and the United States, the latter coun- 

 try exporting vastly larger quantities than Canada; and to keep out of a hope- 

 less competition with the Americans our packers hgve been forced to cater 

 to an entirely different class of customers. Thus it comes that the lean and 

 carefully prepared bacon of Canada is taken by the large cities and retailed 

 to the well-to-do classes, while the American product goes mainly to a less 

 fastidious class of customers at a lower price. Canadian bacon, therefore, 

 does not come into direct competition with the bulk of the American product 

 in Great Britain; and a very little consideration of facts outlined above should 

 convince any thoughtful person of the importance of avoiding American com- 

 petition as far as possible. As a matter of fact, we are compelled to go out 

 of the fat hog business, owing to the vast advantages possessed by the Ameri- 

 cans in the way of markets for their products. 



The kind of bacon of which Canadian packers make a specialty is what 

 is known as the "Wiltshire side." Denmark and Ireland are our main com- 

 petitors; but their conditions are somewhat similar to our own, and the com- 

 petition, therefore, is not a hopeless one. At the same time, we need to put 

 forth every eflFort if we are to hold our own in the British market; and hence 

 we require to give the subject of bacon production most careful study. 



To make Wiltshire sides, a hog is required weighing from i6o to 220 pounds. 

 live weight. These are not cast-iron limits, though 160 pounds is rather too 

 light for making the best side. The most suitable weights are from 180 to 

 190 pounds. The diagram which follows shows a retail dealer's method of cut- 

 ting a Wiltshire side and the approximate retail values in Great Britain. 



A Wiltshire Side, 

 Showing retail dealer's method of cutting, and appro.ximate range of retail vahies in Great Britain. 



The diagram shows that the most valuable meat is found along the upper 

 part of the side as far forward as the shoulder. When the shoulder and neck 

 are reached there is a very material d'op in the value. This teaches that the 

 hog with a heavy, rough shoulder produces a very undesirable side, because 

 it gives a side which is heavy at the cheap end. It teaches further that the 

 hog should have good length from the back of the shoulder to the ham. 

 because this is the most valuable part of the side of bacon. It will be noted 



