TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 309 



Packing hog carcasses. About one-half of the carcasses 

 in Chicago packing houses are of this class. They are carcasses 

 of mixed hogs of all weights, which are too coarse in quality, 

 rough in shape, and uneven in finish, to be well adapted for 

 fresh pork products or smoked meats and are therefore prin- 

 cipally packed in such form as mess pork and dry-salt meats. 

 The hams are sweet pickled and the shoulders made into picnics 

 and Boston butts. The general statement may be made that 

 packing carcasses are inferior carcasses weighing 100 pounds or 

 more which are left after the best carcasses have been sorted 

 out. They are graded heavy, medium, and light according to 

 weight. 



Heavy packing carcasses. These are the carcasses of 

 rough and seedy sows, coarse barrows, boars, and stags aver- 

 aging 240 to 400 pounds. Common defects of this grade are 

 thick, rough, and wrinkled skin, dark-colored and coarse-grained 

 flesh, soft, oily fat, large bones, and carcass bruises. 



Medium packing carcasses. The only important dis- 

 tinction between this grade and the preceding one is weight. 

 These carcasses weigh 200 to 240 pounds. They are inferior 

 to butcher carcasses in shape, finish, and quality. 



Light packing carcasses. These weigh 100 to 200 pounds. 

 They are too deficient in shape, quality, and finish to be classi- 

 fied as either bacon, butcher, or shipper carcasses. This grade 

 comes mostly from light sows. 



Mess pork, which is made from packing hog carcasses, is 

 a simple method of packing cheap pork and was much used in 

 the early days of the packing industry. It is prepared by cut- 

 ting the side into strips about six inches wide and packing in 

 salt brine in tight barrels (18x29 inches) at 200 pounds net 

 weight of cured pork per barrel or 355 pounds gross. It is 

 shipped principally Jo the Southern States, northern lumber 

 camps, and South America. Dry-salt meats, the other com- 

 mon product of packing carcasses, are heavy sides, bellies, 

 shoulders, fat backs, and jowls cured in dry salt, pumped with 

 brine, and shipped in coarse salt. They are usually shipped 

 loose, but sometimes are put up in boxes containing 25 to 500 

 pounds. 



Bacon carcasses. These are suitable for sugar-cured, 

 breakfast-bacon bellies and English meats. Such carcasses 

 have long, deep, smooth sides with a light, even covering of fat. 

 The hams should be full, but lean, and the shoulders light and 



