202 FARMERS MEAT SHOWS 



bring out more prominently the educational side of the show. 

 For instance, after the hams had been cut for the inspection of 

 the judges; they were not piled in a heap but by the use of 

 proper racks, provided with shelving, the parts of the ham were 

 kept together so that the entire piece of meat might be seen at a 

 glance. This arrangement made it easy for the public to compare 

 the outside appearance of the ham with the appearance after it 

 had been cut. 



In the third annual Missouri show the prize list was as follows : 

 Best home-cured country ham, $25 ; second, $15 ; third, $10. Home- 

 cured country bacon first, $25; second, $15; third, $10. Home- 

 cured country shoulders first, $12.50 ; second, $7.50. Fresh coun- 

 try sausage, first $10, and second, $5.00. Smoked or fancy country 

 sausage, first, $10, and second, $5.00. In later shows separate 

 classifications were provided for cured sausage and for fancy saus- 

 age. This is advisable. Green hams are not exhibited. Hams 

 must have been made eight months or more. This rule should not 

 apply to shoulders or bacon. Here only sufficient cure to preserve 

 is all that is required. 



In conducting a farmers' meat show it is important that the 

 announcement concerning it be made in ample time and that this 

 announcement be couched in the plainest and most simple language. 

 The premium list and terms governing the exhibit should be clearly 

 defined. All meat should be received at the show room in time to 

 be entered and placed for exhibit before the opening of the show. 

 When received, each piece should be weighed and tagged with a 

 number corresponding to the entry number in the superintendent's 

 book. All entries should be confined strictly to farm-made meat. 

 In the Missouri show the rule has been to return all meat at ex- 

 hibitor 's expense at the close of the contest or to sell meat at market 

 price and remit this. 



In conducting a meat show, one difficulty is to secure competent 

 judges, men who know good country-cured meat and who know 

 how to make it. If there are up-to-date farmers who have given 

 considerable thought to this question and who have established 

 reputations for the quality of their smoke-house products, they will 

 perhaps be the best judges. Many good judges of fresh meat lack 

 the qualifications for judging the country-cured product. 



It is important that the showroom be neat and clean as this 

 will make the exhibits appear to better advantage. Winners of 

 prizes should be required to furnish, if possible, the recipes by 

 which meat was cured. Other information, such as breed of hog, 

 age and weight, from which meat came is desirable. 



If at first there was doubt as to the value or practibility of a 

 farmers' ham and bacon show, these misgivings have been removed. 

 At such shows, in Missouri and in many other states which have 

 fallen in line, there is now seen the real country ham, brown as a 

 berry, sweet and savory, and with white fat and red lean, making 

 altogether a most appetizing product. The bacon, too, is of the 

 best, " crisp, juicy savory," with the much sought "streak o' fat 

 and streak o' lean" splendidly sandwiched. Such an exhibit ban- 



