368 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



further along, another operator "faces" the hams that is, with a 

 sharp-pointed knife he traces on the hide the shape of the hams 

 which are eventually to be cut. By this time the hog has journeyed 

 about twenty-five feet from the scalding- vat into which it was first 

 plunged. At this point the head is completely detached. The tongue 

 is taken out, to be canned for lunch purposes, and the head is either 

 singed and made into English brawn, or the cheek meat is cut off 

 and the rest rendered into lard, according to the price which either 

 commodity commands in the market at the time. The carcass is 

 pushed along a little further, and a skilled hand marks a line down 

 the back to guide the chopper. The gambol stick is removed; a boy 

 pulls a rope tied to one of the hind legs, so as to stretch the legs 

 apart, and the chopper, with a meat-ax, divides the headless car- 

 cass into halves down the middle of the spine. It is then carried on 

 runners to the hanging-room, where it is allowed to remain till the 

 last vestige of animal heat has departed, prior to its being taken to 

 the chill-room. This is a most necessary and carefully observed 

 precaution, for if the carcass were immediately conveyed to the chill- 

 room the cold air would congeal the outer flesh, leaving the animal 

 heat within, and the meat would sour in the curing. 



The chill-room is maintained at a temperature of about 36 F. 

 the year round. In warm weather this temperature is obtained, in 

 the best-regulated packing-houses, in the same manner as in beef- 

 packing, by salt water, refrigerated by the evaporation of ammonia, 

 pumped into pipes encircling the room. In other houses less uni- 

 form results are obtained by the use of ice. After remaining in the 

 chill-room about forty-eight hours the meat is hauled out by an end- 

 less chain and dropped upon the chopping-block. There, at two 

 strokes, each segment of the defunct hog is cut into three. The ham 

 is cut off at one stroke, the shoulder at another, and the side is thus 

 left. These are trimmed to the desired shapes and are ready for 

 curing. 



Every part of the animal is utilized. The lean-meat trimmings 

 from the hams, shoulders, and sides are made into sausages; the feet 

 are pickled or canned; the ears and other gelatinous parts are con- 

 verted into glue; the blood, dried and pressed, brings 1-J cents a 

 pound as a fertilizer; the skins of the intestines are cleaned for 

 sausage-casings; the bristles and hair are sold; and the intestines, 

 trimmings and other refuse are tanked for soap-grease, and the 

 residuum makes fertilizers. 



The methods of curing are as follows: 



The first destination of the meats about to be cured is the cellar, 

 a dry, flagged chamber, kept at a temperature of about 40 F., and 

 from which all daylight is excluded. Here the hams are assorted 

 according to weight, and sprinkled with saltpeter, salt, and granu- 

 lated sugar. At the end of ten days they are turned and resprinkled, 

 and left to cure for twenty or thirty days longer. The sides are 

 treated in a similar manner, unless intended for what is technically 

 termed " mess pork," in which case they are cut into uniform pieces, 

 packed in. barrels in dry salt, and pickle afterwards poured over 

 them. 



When the hams, etc., are received in the cellar from the cutting- 

 room they are scraped and cleaned, and any defects of trimming are 

 rectified, and at the same time they are carefully inspected for any 

 signs of taint or bruise or other imperfection. Those that are found 

 perfect are taken back to the chill-room and put on racks and chilled 



