244 THE BACON CURING INDUSTRY 



the purchaser, so that a farmer at a distance practically pays the cost of 

 the carriao^e of the pig to Waterford. 



" The pigs which come to Waterford market all arrive alive and are 

 killed and cured at the provision stores, but those which reach Belfast 

 market are brought in dead and are only cured by the exporters. Belfast 

 is the only place in Ulster where a large provision trade is carried on, and 

 its exports, partly of hams, are considerable, while in Munster there are 

 large establishments at Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. 



" A large proportion of the bacon and hams cured in Belfast is 

 exported to the colonies, and the remainder finds consumption in this 

 country, as well as in Lancashire and the north of England. A similar 

 trade to that of Belfast has been carried on in Limerick for many years. In 

 the north the pigs are killed by the farmers at their own homesteads and 

 then brought to market ; while in Limerick they are slaughtered in the 

 curing establishments. In both cases the bristles are removed by scalding, 

 previous to curing, while those animals intended for bacon for London 

 must have the bristles taken off by singeing. Slight as this difference 

 •may appear, bacon prepared in the former way will not sell in the London 

 market. Belfast bacon and hams are shipped in a finished condition, dried 

 and smoked, while that from the south of Ireland, with the exception of a 

 portion of that manufactured in Limerick, is shipped in an undried state, 

 and is dried and smoked at the other side. The bacon cured in the south 

 is sent chiefly to London ; it differs from that cured in the north in another 

 particular, namely, that the ham is not separated from the flitch ; it \» 

 shipped in bales, each bale consisting of the flesh of two pigs. 



" There has been an increased demand for and consumption of bacon in 

 London, which has enhanced the price ; but even this inducement has 

 failed to increase materially the supply from Ireland, and the deficiency is 

 met by much larger foreign arrivals. I'he London price for bacon on the 

 ist October, 1858, was 50^-. to 615-. per cwt. ; at the same date in 1859, 

 it was 56^. to bys. per cwt. ; and in i860, yos. to y^s. per cwt. : the quota- 

 tion for July, 1861, was 75 y. to 795. per cwt. This advance in price has 

 produced an increase in the imports of foreign bacon into London. In 

 the year 1855 they were 20,306 bales ; in 1856, 19,891 ; in 1857, 26,425; 

 in 1858, 18,664 f i" ''859, 23,411 ; in i860, 43,770, Of the Irish supply to 

 the London market considerably more than one-half is cured in Water- 

 ford. 



"Third, as to the recent improvements in the mode of curing bacon. 



" Previous to the application of steam to the propulsion of vessels, the 

 only mode of intercourse between Ireland and the sister isle was by sailing 

 ships : and as their passage was more or less doubtful and protracted, it 

 was necessary that bacon should be salted sufficiently to bear the longest 

 voyage. Subsequently, a regular line of fast-sailing ships was put on the 

 the berth between Waterford and London, sailing once a week, whether 

 fully loaded or not. This was a vast improvement in the mode of transit, 

 and enabled the curers to moderate the amount of salt used ; but since 

 ihe introduction of steamers, by which alone provisions are now conveyed, 

 the greatest care is taken to prevent over salting, and an article is now 

 produced by the Irish curers which brings the highest price in the best 

 markets in the world. The usage of the trade some years ago was 10 

 suspend working about the ist of May, and to resume about the beginning 

 of October. Most of the men employed in curing were only engaged for 

 the season ; a few of the best hands were retained during the summer, at 

 reduced wages. Several modes of curing bacon in summer were suggested 

 and tried ; many of them failed, and at length a Waterford curing 



