134 RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS IN SWINE FEEDING 



is affected. A really soft side is practically worthless, and 

 even a slight degree of tenderness detracts very seriously from 

 the value of the bacon. 



The Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, and the Central 

 Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada, have conducted ex- 

 haustive experiments in connection with the causes of soft 

 bacon, and following are the principal points brought out in 

 the investigation: 



1. Lack of Maturity. Generally speaking, the more im- 

 mature a hog is, the greater the tendency to be soft. Almost 

 invariably the largest percentage of softness occurs among the 

 light sides of bacon. 



2. Lack of Finish. Thin hogs have a marked tendency 

 to produce soft bacon. Marketing hogs before they are finished 

 is, no doubt, responsible for a, great deal of softness. 



3. Unthriftiness in hogs, no matter what the cause may 

 be, almost invariably produces soft bacon. 



4. Lack of exercise has a tendency to produce softness, 

 but this tendency can be largely overcome by judicious feeding. 



5. Exclusive meal feeding is perhaps one of the most com- 

 mon causes of softness, especially when hogs are not given 

 exercise. Some kinds of meal are more injurious than others, 

 but wherever exclusive meal feeding is practised and the ex- 

 ercise is limited, more or less softness is always sure to result. 



6. Corn. Of the grains in common use, corn has the 

 greatest tendency to produce softness. Its injurious tendency 

 can be modified by mixing it largely with other meal, or by 

 feeding skim-milk, green feed, and roots, but its tendency to 

 produce softness is so strong that it must be regarded a:s an un- 

 desirable food for bacon hogs. 



Corn appears to give a good quality of meat in the case 

 of the lard hog, but it must be remembered that the bacon 

 hog is marketed at lighter weights and in thinner condition 



