254 THE BACON CURING INDUSTRY. 



would come freely off when it was scraped, and the sides cut into three 

 pieces before being put into salt. 



The introduction of ice-curing came, as will have been seen from the 

 quotation at the beginning of this article, about i860, and this system, too, 

 was carried on in a very crude way at first, the ice being simply left in open 

 crates in the centre of the building where the curing was in progress, in order 

 to keep the air cool. The next step was the Harris patent Ice House. This 

 consisted of large chambers on iron floors supported by heavy beams or 

 uprights ; the necessity for strong supports will be understood when we 

 mention that one of these floors had to bear as much as i,ooo tons of ice at 

 a time in the bacon curing season. The bacon was piled in cellars under- 

 neath these chambers, the cold air from the ice overhead descending through 

 the iron floor and keeping the temperature low during the summer months. 

 In winter the use of ice was of course not necessary. 



It was thought the limit of improvement in this direction had been 

 reached; but about 1887 a complete revolution was caused in the arrange- 

 ments existmg in the factories by the introduction of elaborate machinery 

 for the production of cold by the ammonia or carbonic acid process. The 

 initial cost of these systems was heavy, coming to over ^^ 100,000 in the 

 bacon curing establishments of the South of Ireland ; but it has proved to 

 be money well spent, the work now being done much better and at half the 

 cost of the old methods. The regulation of the temperature being under 

 such complete control makes the modern refrigerating plant admirably 

 adapted for use in connection with the production of the mild cured bacon 

 which the public now so generally insist on having. The hard cured bacon 

 ct former days would now be looked on as akin to Lot's wife, and it was by 

 mere chance that the change in taste was brought about. 



About twenty years ago, a struggling Limerick curer, vvlio has long since 

 joined the majority, being on an occasion unusually short of money, in 

 ■order to turn his bacon into cash was obliged to turn it out in what was 

 then considered a half -cured condition. Strange to say those who got this 

 bacon liked it, and more was asked for. The other curers having heard of 

 the matter, followed their neighbour's unintentional lead, with the result that 

 the consumption of bacon of this character has been quadrupled. The 

 manufacture of mild cure has now been brought to such perfection that it 

 can be sent into tropical climates for consumption within a reasonable time. 



The modern method of the bacon manufacture is very different from the 

 crude system we have already described. A bracelet arrangement is 

 fastened to one of the pig's hind legs. This is attached to a steam hoist, 

 which quickly suspends the animal on a sliding bar head downwards. By a 

 slight thrust of a knife in the throat, the jugular is pierced, the blood flows, 

 and the animal dies quickly. If intended for the " singed " or " long side '' 

 trade, the carcase is passed into a patent furnace ^nd comes out in a quarter 

 ■of a minute thoroughly singed or " s wealed." It next goes under a self- 

 acting shower bath, after which the singed hair is scraped off by one man, 

 who passes the carcase along the overhead rail to another who disembowels 

 it. It is then weighed, and the weight stamped on it. An endless ratchet 

 •chain takes it further along the bar to the branding stage. Here a great 

 •saving of time and labour has been effected by the introduction of gas 

 brands ; the branding formerly had to be done by solid iron brands which 

 were constantly reheated during operations. The carcase, after singeing, etc., 

 is suspended in the hanging house for a period of twelve to twenty hours. 



