278 



Loss of Poi'k in Making Bacon — Fattening Hogs. Vol. XII. 



believe led the way in their adoption,) intro- 

 duced them into Canada on his accession to 

 the Governor Generalship of those provinces ; 

 and it is now about nine years since tiie first 

 plank road was constructed there under the 

 supervision of the Government; altboug-h a 

 short experimental road was tried at Toronto 

 two years previously, and a short piece of 

 rude structure of the kind was laid at Que- 

 bec some thirty years ago. So perfectly 

 satisfied have the Canadians now become of 

 the immense advantages resulting to their 

 farming and commercial interests from the 

 introduction of plank roads, that they have 

 gone more extensively into these splendid 

 road improvements, than any kingdom or re- 

 public on the globe. These Canadian plank 

 roads are principally located in the London 

 district, Canada West. There is one from 

 Port Stanley to London, 26 miles ; 2d, from 

 Hamilton to Port Dover, 36 miles; 3d, Lon- 

 don to Brantford, 57^ miles; 4th, London to 

 Chatham, 67^ miles ; 5th, Chatham to Sand- 

 wich, 60 miles; 6th, Chatham to Amherst- 

 burg, 18 miles; 7th, London to Port Sarnia, 

 62 miles; one in progress from London to 

 Port Goderich, 75 miles; two or three ra- 

 diating from Toronto, one or more at Mon- 

 treal and Chambly, one at Quebec, and seve- 

 ral others of less note in other parts of the 

 provinces. Of the precise number of these 

 roads in Canada, we are not advised ; but we 

 learn that their aggregate length is between 

 400 and 500 miles. 



We learn from Mr. Alvord, that the Sal ina 

 road has divided 12.| per cent, profits the last 

 year, with a reserve of surplus profits of over 

 $3000. The Salina was the first plank road 

 finished in the United States. Of the Rome 

 and Oswego road, 56 miles are finished and 

 in use. Besides these there are some twenty 

 other plank roads in the State of New York, 

 of the aggregate length of 336 miles, the 

 stock of which is taken and they are to be 

 built in the spring. And there are half a 

 dozen others projected there, and will pro- 

 bably be m^de, of some 144 miles in length 

 In Ohio there is a plank road in progress 

 from Milan south, 45 miles. 



A gentleman (quoted in Ellsworth's Patent 

 Office Report) says that on the Toronto 

 plank roads, after seven years' use, 'the top 

 surface of the plank was found to be worn in 

 the centre for the breadth of seven feel only, 

 and to the depth of f of an inch ;' the rest 

 of the surface, say tour feet, (the entire track 

 being twelve feet,) was almost as untouched 

 as when the planks came from the saw ; of 

 course one third of this planking was use- 

 less, and one third the expenditure on ac- 

 count of it a dead loss! It has become a 

 settled principle, that travel on all roads 



will concentrate within a narrow range — say 

 within a width of seven or eight feet near 

 the centre of a plank road ; it follows ther»» 

 that all over three feet for a single track is, 

 for all practical purposes, labor and material 

 thrown away." — Prairie Farmer. 



From the Southern Cultivator. 



Loss of Pork in Making Bacon — Fatten- 



ing Hogs. 



Mr. Editor: — Persons, at times, are de- 

 sirous of knowing how much bacon a givea 

 amount of pork will make. I have often 

 asked the question, but could get no satisfac- 

 tory answer. This winter I ascertained the 

 facts for myself, and now send them to you, 

 for the information of others. 



I killed six hogs, well fattened, ranging' 

 from ten to eighteen months old, weighing' 

 877 pounds. They were truly Georgia hog»y 

 raise<l upon pine roots and broom sedge grass. 

 I found the sides were 24 per cent, of the 

 whole amount of the bog; shoulders, 22 per 

 cent.; hams, 21^ per cent.; ribs and back- 

 bones, 11| per cent.; heads, 9 per cent.; lard 

 (leaf), 9, and lard (gut), 4 per cent.; loss in 

 weighing, 4 per cent. 



The quantity of lard will be increased, 

 from the fat taken from the backbone, and 

 the trimmings from the hams, shoulders and 

 middlings. The entire spare-rib was taken 

 out — and from the various parts the sau- 

 sage meat was taken, after they had been 

 weighed. 



So that the rate per cent, of each part, 

 would be diminished according to the extent 

 of trimming. And though the exact propor- 

 tion is not given, yet the facts I have stated 

 are sufficiently accurate for general purposes. 

 The quantity of lard will always be in- 

 creased, and the trimmings for sansage meat 

 are taken from those portions of the hog ne- 

 ver consumed in the family, afler it has been 

 turned into bacon. 



It is said by Solon Robinson, that meat 

 loses ten per cent, in smoking. The facts I 

 have furnished show that the hams, sides and 

 shoulders of a hog are two-thirds of his whole 

 net weight. 



An experiment made by me with my hogs, 

 satisfied me that boiled food was far cheaper 

 to fatten upon than raw food. I took two 

 hogs of the same litter, equally thrifly, ar>d 

 put them in separate pens. I fed one on raw 

 corn, the other on boiled meal. Both had as 

 much as they could eat. The one fed on 

 boiled meal, well cooked, and made into a 

 mush, was soiTiCw hat the fattest, but it did 

 not consume one-fourth as much corn as the 

 other. It commenced fattening earlier, arwi 

 eat up clean all that was given it, while 



