126 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



requirements of the consuming centers of Great Britain. In these cen- 

 tral and middle western states, tributary to the packing centers of 

 Chicago, where the trade demands products widely different in char- 

 acter from those which are at a premium in Canadian markets, it seems 

 to me that it would be wisdom on the part of the farmer to move slowly 

 in the matter of introducing modern-type bacon hogs. Over here, we 

 have not yet reached that stage in the business where this type of hog 

 commands a premium. Asa matter of fact, in some of the large Ameri- 

 can markets thick fat hogs are bought more readily than those of the 

 other type. In Canadian markets there is a discrimination in favor of 

 bacon hogs of twenty-five to seventy-five cents per hundred, live weight. 

 Under these conditions, the farmers have merely been following a good 

 business policy in producing the hog most in demand. Just as soon as 

 the home and foreign trade of the American packers will justify their 

 following a similar course, so soon will there be profit for our farmers 

 in investing in special purpose bacon hogs. 



Hence, at this time, I do not come before you to urge upon j^ou any 

 advantages likely to follow the introduction of this type, but merely 

 to submit for your consideration the methods which have been followed 

 by Canadian farmers and which have resulted not only in large profit 

 to themselves, but in placing Canadian bacon products in close compe- 

 tition with the best brands of Danish and Irish going forward to British 

 markets. Bacon pigs are born, not made. 



THE KIND OF HOG WANTED. 



General Characteristics. — The great object in producing bacon pigs 

 is to secure animals possessing a large proportion of lean, muscular 

 meat. While they should not be fat, neither should they approach the 

 extreme of being poor. A good bacon hog has a light head and light 

 framework generally. He has a light shoulder and a fairly heavy ham 

 (average weight, 18 to 20 pounds), the side should be as long and as deep 

 as possible, the belly wide and thick, the back should be thinly fleshed, 

 with the fat running in an even layer, an. inch to an inch and a half in 

 thickness, from in front of shoulder to tail-head. There should be no 

 tendency toward a heavy patch of fat on top of neck. The following 

 shows the severity of the grading done in England: "The sides have to 

 be measured, then weighed and classified as to fatness, so that the sides 

 in each box will be within two inches of the same length, the same thick- 

 ness of fat, and there must not be a difference of over two pounds be- 

 tween the lightest and heaviest side in a box." This simply means that 

 the packer, to save himself, and protect the man who furnishes the right 

 tvpe of pigs, must ''cut" severelv on all animals which will not grade 

 No. 1. 



Weight. — A bacon pig should come between the limit of 160 to 220 

 pounds, live weight; animals above or below these weights must go into 

 a second grade. One of our packers informed me that he wanted pigs 

 that would give him bacon sides of 90 pounds. The large fat hog of 

 300 to 450 pounds is simply not to be considered for the bacon trade, 

 and further, these lighter hogs bring a much larger net return pound for 

 pound. In the first place, they sell for 25 to 75 cents more per hun- 

 dredweight, live weight, than do the heavy fat hogs. Even within the 

 limits of the English bacon weights there is frequently a difference of as 



