MEAT. 



MEAT. 



mand as high a price. Half-breeds from Lei- 

 cester rams and Cheviot and black-faced ewes, 

 which reserrTble the true breeds in form and 

 quality, form saleable sheep in London. The 

 old black-faced breed are too thin in the leg 

 and back, and are in London termed "goaty." 

 There are by far too many of this kind sent 

 from Scotland, and they are generally, besides, 

 only half-weaterf, or half-fat, and of course only 

 fetch middling prices. They, however, gene- 

 rally please the consumer for flavour. Pure 

 bred Leicesters are too fat, unless they are sent 

 young, and do not exceed 20 Ib. per quarter; 

 when above that weight they fetch inferior 

 prices. A line South Down or Scotch sheep, 

 of 18 Ib. per quarter, will fetch Td. per Ib. by 

 the carcass, whereas a heavy Leicester, Glou- 

 cester, Lincoln, or Kent, of 24 Ib. a quarter and 

 upwards, will realize no more than 6</. 



The carcasses of mutton to be sent to Lon- 

 don should, of course, be those of sheep such 

 as are here recommended to be sent alive. 

 Large quantities of fat are not so desirable as 

 a proportionable mixture of fat with the lean. 

 In using the loins and other parts of very fat 

 mutton for chops, much of it has to be pared 

 away, and sold for the price of raw fat, per- 

 haps 4rf. a pound ; whereas well-mixed chops 

 may be sold for Id. or 8d. a pound. This shows 

 the nature of the mistake committed in sending 

 fat, heavy mutton to London. The great point 

 is, to select ripe mutton and sheep ; for the 

 latter will stand the voyage better than half-fat, 

 and will not lose half the quantity of flesh in 

 three days as the latter. No overgrown 

 animals, having masses of fat on one place 

 and not on another, would therefore command 

 the top price : but those having plump car- 

 casses, well mixed with fat and lean, firmly 

 and equally laid on, with fine symmetry and 

 valuable points, will always command the 

 top price, both at Smithfield and the carcass 

 markets. 



3. Selection of Lambs. Lambs are a favourite 

 stock to send to London, and they are always 

 sent alive. Leicester lambs are admirably 

 adapted for the London market. They are 

 handsome, compact, thick on all the points, 

 and although they might become too fat when 

 grown to sheep, they cannot be too fat as lambs. 

 Their flesh is white, a property much admired 

 in London, and every joint of them looks well 

 on the table. The lambs of the cross between 

 the Leicester and the Cheviot and black-faced 

 ewes are next best for fat and lean, and cut 

 well into joints, although they have not the 

 handsome figures of the pure Leicester. True 

 Cheviot and black-faced lambs, unless very 

 fat, do not take so well in Smithfield, not being 

 so compact, taking longer time to come to ma- 

 turity, not cutting up so thick, and presenting 

 small joints on the table ; but they make very 

 delicate and high-flavoured chops. No lambs 

 should be sent to Smithfield until they are at 

 least three months old, and have obtained the 

 weight of 9 Ib. or 10 Ib. a quarter; and if they 

 are not fat enough, and have not attained that 

 weight at that age, they should be kept on. 

 Shippers may calculate on a loss of 1 Ib. a 

 quarter on the voyage : unless, therefore, lambs 

 are from 9 Ib. to 10 Ib. a quarter, they would be 

 802 



too small after that loss, and they then become 

 unsaleable except at low prices. Ewe lambs 

 are preferred, being more delicate than wethers, 

 which are next in value, for ram lambs are 

 very unsaleable. All wether lambs, therefore, 

 intended for Smithfield, should be castrated 

 when a few days old, and their tails cut short, 

 leaving not more than three inches. The 

 docking gives them a very compact form, and 

 it causes the flesh to grow up towards the back, 

 long tails giving a contrary tendency. 



4. Selection of Pigs and Pork. Much caution 

 is requisite on the part of the shipper of pigs 

 for London. A very mistaken notion prevails 

 among many shippers, and the notion has been 

 contracted in ignorance of the nature of the 

 London market, that pigs must be fat to suit 

 the English taste. The fact is quite the reverse, 

 for the larger the pig is fattened, the less money 

 per pound it fetches. Pigs are worth the most 

 money when their weight ranges from 35 Ib. to 

 40 Ib. ; and from this weight up to 60 Ib. or 70 Ib., 

 they are termed dairy-fed porkers. If at the 

 former weight, they are of good symmetry, fine 

 quality, delicate and white in the flesh, and not 

 more than 1 inch or 1^ inch thick of fat on the 

 back, they will fetch the top price of the day. 

 Pigs of the average weight of 60 Ib. will give 

 about Id. per Ib.; from 70 Ib. to 100 Ib., ave-' 

 raging 85 Ib., and 2 inches thick of fat, 6rf. per 

 Ib.; from 100 Ib. to 150 Ib., averaging 130 Ib., 

 and about 2 inches of fat, 5d. to 5$d. per Ib.; 

 from 150 Ib. to 200 Ib., averaging about 170 Ib., 

 and about 3 inches of fat, 4rf. to 4rf. per Ib. ; 

 and all above the last weight and thickness of 

 fat, only about 3d. per Ib. Besides the large- 

 sized, a very small fat pig is not relished in 

 London. Indeed, we need not be surprised at 

 this preference, when we consider that only 

 the small lean and fat pdrkers are used for 

 roasting, chops, and pickled pork, and the large 

 fat pigs are chopped down for sausages. No 

 pigs, therefore, should be sent to London ex- 

 ceeding 100 Ib., exclusive of head and feet, but 

 which are only moderately fat and of fine 

 quality; all other qualities should be cured as 

 flitch, bacon, and hams. Pigs, if possible, 

 should be sent alive to London. Occasionally 

 they arrive in pretty good order in carcass; 

 but in carcass, in thick weather, the flesh be- 

 comes very soft, and the skin dry; and in dry 

 weather the skin becomes quite hard and 

 brown coloured. Of equal qualities, the live 

 pig will draw from a halfpenny to a penny a 

 pound more than in carcass. Feeders of pigs 

 should be careful on wh'at they feed their pigs, 

 especially fish. The retail butchers are such 

 nice judges of pork, that on buying a carcass 

 at Newgate or Leadenhall market, and cutting 

 a slice, they can detect the least peculiarity in 

 taste, which, if they do, they will return it again, 

 and cause the carcass to be resold for what it 

 will bring, rather than send any such pork to 

 their customers. 



Cutting vp Meat. The mode of cutting up 

 meat is more diversified even than the slaugh- 

 tering, almost every town having its own. But 

 as London is the great emporium of the export 

 meat trade of Scotland, the method of cutting 

 up meat in the metropolis should constitute the 

 particular study of the shippers of meat. To 



