TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



305 



The above figures do not include the small cuttings, ten- 

 derloins, tails, pig's feet, cheek meat, etc., which are practically 

 alike for hogs within the weight limits mentioned above. The 

 figures show a marked increase in the percentage of lard yield 

 as the hog matures. 



That the hog is by nature disposed to take on more fat 

 than any of the other domestic animals is shown by the follow- 

 ing table of analyses made at the Rothamsted (England) Ex- 

 periment Station. After fasting from eighteen to twenty-four 

 hours the animals were killed and the entire bodies analysed. 



These figures show why the corn crop has formed a closer 

 alliance with hogs than with any other of our domestic animals. 

 The hog requires more fattening food than other animals because 

 he is naturally disposed to take on a very high degree of fatness, 

 and, as has been mentioned, hog fat is far more valuable than 

 the fat of cattle or sheep. Packers desire a covering of outside 

 fat on the carcass of a lard hog that measures from two to six 

 inches in thickness, the requirements varying according to the 

 weight of the carcass. 



Armour & Company's booklet, entitled "Progressive Hog 

 Raising/' by E. R. Gentry, contains the following comparison 

 of the merits of a well-fed hog and a poorly fed one : 



"Let us take two hogs representing these different grades. 

 One has had good care and has been fed on corn properly supple- 

 mented with good forage and high protein feeds. The other 

 has been 'grassed along/ getting a little slop now and then 

 and otherwise allowed to shift for himself. Both are killed and 

 hung in the cooler to chill and harden for forty-eight hours. 

 At the end of this time they come out to be cut up. The corn- 

 fed hog is firm, it cuts easily with one stroke of the cleaver or 

 one draw of the knife. There is a good layer of pure white fat 



