TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 301 



is of interest as indicating the importance of pork and the 

 relative value of cured pork and cured beef: 



Product Per cent, of 



total value 

 Fresh meat: 



Beef 25.83 



Veal 1.61 



Mutton, lamb, goat, kid . 4. 58 



Pork 13.87 



Cured meat: 



Beef ; 88 



Pork 24.13 



Canned goods 1 . 62 



Sausage 4.18 



Lard 7.38 



Lard compounds and substitutes 2 . 03 



Oleo oil 73 



Other oils 25 



Tallow and oleo stock 85 



Stearin 17 



Oleomargarine 54 



All other products 11 . 35 



100.00 



The Fat or Lard- Hog Carcass. 



Wholesale cuts. After the carcass has been thoroughly 

 chilled it is cut up into shoulders, hams, fat backs, loins, spare 

 ribs, and belly. These wholesale cuts are shown in the drawings 

 which accompany this chapter. 



The part labeled "fat back" is a clear layer of external fat 

 containing no lean meat. Studies of the carcasses of cattle 

 and sheep disclose the fact that it is easily possible to feed a 

 steer or a wether too long, and thus make the animal too fat 

 to suit the consumer. One-half to three-fourths of an inch of 

 external fat is all that is wanted on the carcasses of cattle, and 

 for mutton and lamb the desired thickness is proportionate to 

 the requirements for cattle. With fat hogs we find an entirely 

 different state of affairs, for the packer wants a very thick layer 

 of external fat over the top of the hog. This heavy layer of 

 fat constitutes a separate cut known as the fat back, which may 

 be rendered into lard, or dry salted and sold as a dry-salt cut. 

 When manufactured into lard they render 85 to 88 per cent. 

 About one-half of them are sold as a dry-salt cut for which a 

 demand exists in the South and in Europe. Lard is far more 

 valuable than tallow, hence the difference in the packer's attitude 

 toward very heavy fatness in the lard hog as compared with a 

 similar degree of fatness in cattle or sheep. 



