lo Feb., 1912.] 



The Pig Industry. 



81 



Dear Bacon in Great Britain. 



While Victorian farmers are obtaining low prices for their pigs we 

 frequently see comments on the clearness of bacon in Great Britain and 

 in this country too. In Great Britain various reasons are given for the 

 decrease in the number of pigs kept, the principal of which are : — 



1. That yearly an increased amount of milk is being consumed in its natural 

 condition as a beverage, making less skim milk and whey available for pig feed. 



2. Owing to more stringent sanitary regulations, fewer pigs are kept bv 

 cottagers. These formerly aggregated a considerable total. 



In the trade there have been deductions on pigs over 180 lbs., and also on 

 overfat bacon. 



Disease has played its part in checking production, as swine fever, 

 tuberculosis, and measles cause considerable loss and trouble. This 

 last-named disease is not known in Victoria, but in America nearly every 

 pig has to be examined microscopically for the purpose of detecting its 

 presence or otherwise. All these are handicaps in favour of Victorian 

 farmers. The principal cause, however, of the high price of bacon in 

 Great Britain is the restricted supply from foreign countries. On the 

 other hand, the reason that pigs in Victoria are bringing such low prices 

 is that there are far more fat pigs produced than can be handled by those 

 in the trade. They pick what they require from those offering. 



British Bacon-curing Factories. 

 The following table gives the products of British bacon-curing fac- 

 tories principally for the wholesale trade. The products by farmers, pork 

 butchers, provision merchants, &c., for private trade are as far as pos- 

 sible eliminated : — 



Product. 



Bacon 



Hams 



Pork (Salt) 



Lard 



Sausages 



Heads 



Sausage Casing: 



Preserved Meats (Brawn 



Offals 



Other Products 



Tinned 



Jleats, &c.) 



A very interesting feature of these figures is that the recognised out- 

 put of the bacon factories, viz., bacon, hams, pork, and lard, total? 

 ^8,468,000, while the by-products give ;^2,04i,ooo — nearly one-fourth' 

 additional. So it appears that they could sell bacon, &c., at cost price 

 and have 25 per cent, over for working expenses. At most bacon fac- 

 tories in this country, a private individual can get a pig killed and cured 

 for id. per lb. It, therefore, stands to reason that it will not cost id. 

 per lb. to turn out the bacon, as the work will not be done for nothing. 

 As about one-fifth the weight of the carcase is lost in curing, it should 

 be possible to buy at 4d. per lb. carcase weight, and sell at 5d. for bacon. 



