90 



but is there not a great difference in the texture and flavor of beef 

 from cattle of different breeds ? This difference is so well under- 

 stood in England, that the prices of beef are to a considerable 

 extent regulated by the breed — the AYest-Highlanders and Gallo- 

 ways taking the first rank, then the Herefords and Devons, and last, 

 the Shorthorns. A similar scale of prices regulates the market in 

 reference to mutton from various breeds of sheep. The difference 

 in the meat of swine is not less striking. Some have a thick skin, 

 with flesh of an open, coarse texture, and unpleasant flavor ; others 

 a thin skin, with fine-grained, well-flavored flesh. Some convert their 

 food almost wholly into fat, while in others it enters chiefly into the 

 composition of muscle. In some, the fat is accumulated chiefly on 

 the belly, and is of a soft, oily nature ; in others, it is laid more on 

 the back, and is comparatively firm and hard. 



" Of course, the breed should be chosen with reference to the pur- 

 poses in view. If lard-oil is the principal object, the animal which 

 will give the greatest quantity of soft fat for the food consumed will 

 be most profitable. For barrelling, ' clear pork ' is the main object; 

 and the animal which will give the greatest quantity of solid fat on 

 the back and sides, is preferable. This is the description of pork 

 which is chiefly consumed in the Eastern States and in the fisheries. 

 In the Southern and Western States, pork is used chiefly in the 

 form of ' bacon ' — the whole of the meat is ' dry-cured ' and 

 smoked. Where this is the object, the clear fat which is so much 

 prized in other cases, is not desirable ; but a carcass which gives a 

 considerable proportion of lean with the fat is much better. 



" The swine of the United States have been derived chiefly from 

 Great Britain, though occasional importations have been made from 

 other countries. The British stock of the present day consists of 

 various mixtures of the aboriginal race of that island with various 

 Asiatic stocks — mostly Chinese and Siamese. Youatt, in his treatise, 

 published in 184G, observed that the old breeds were ' rapidly 

 losing all traces of individuality under the various systems of crossing 

 to which they are subjected.' The old stock, which, ' with trifling 

 degrees of difference,' it is said, ' Avas spread over the greater part of 

 England,' is described by Martin as ' large, coarse, unthrifty, with 

 a long broad snout, large flapping ears, low in the shoulders, long in 

 the back, flat-sided, long in the limbs, and large-boned, with a thick 

 hide covered with coarse bristles. They were enormous feeders but 



