398 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



largely fed on alfalfa pasture, with refuse grain or other strong 

 foods to "finish" them for the market and firm their flesh. 

 The Berkshire and the Poland China are the ones most 

 commonly used in such regions. 



While swine are certainly not very shy of dirt, yet it is 

 well to keep them as clean as possible. Pigsties should be 

 properly littered and cleaned from time to time, for healthful 

 and well-flavored meat and lard cannot be expected from 

 badly kept pigs. 



Trichina, a very minute parasitic worm, sometimes gets 

 into the flesh of swine. .When such flesh is eaten it is likely 

 to be fatal to man. It is probably due to unclean sties and 

 food or water. But the trichina also infests rats and mice, 

 and hogs eating them will become infected. Pickling, salting, 

 and smoking will not kill these parasites; this can only be 

 done by thorough boiling or roasting. It is hardly ever safe 

 to eat raw ham. 



Chicago and Kansas City are the largest pork-packing 

 centers, and next come Indianapolis and Cincinnati. In 

 the large establishments, where tens of thousands of hogs 

 are killed daily, every part of the animal is made useful. 

 The hair, scraped off after scalding, is sorted into bristles 

 for brushes of all kinds, and also for use in plastering walls. 

 The entrails and other inside parts are made into fertilizers. 

 Any grease is saved for soap making. The blood is dried 

 and also makes a very valuable fertilizer. The lard tried 

 out from the fat parts is not only used for cooking, but also 

 for making lard-oil and candles. 



