8 



in the Coliseum Building during the fat-stock show, and will take them to the stock 

 yards for slaughter and block tests immediately following. After the carcasses have 

 been cooled down I will have a committee of the expert meat dealers select one or 

 two representative carcasses from each lot and forward to Dr. Wiley for investiga- 

 tion. Probably it will be a week or ten days before the carcasses reach Washington. 



Very truly, yours, 



C. F. CURTISS. 



Hon. JAMES WILSON, 



Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, I). C. 



EXPERIMENT STATION, IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 



Ames, Iowa, November 13, 1897. 



DEAR SIR: Your valued favor of the 3d instant came to hand while I was in 

 Chicago having the slaughter test made of the pigs used in our experiments. Owing 

 to the machinery used in the packing house where the hogs were killed, it was not 

 practicable to obtain the weight of the hair, and the blood could not be collected 

 and weighed without considerable difficulty. I had taken this matter up with 

 Swift & Co. before receiving your letter, but was obliged, under the circumstances, 

 to omit these items. The weight of the intestines an-d other internal organs was 

 obtained. I returned this morning from superintending the block test yesterday, 

 and have had a good representative carcass from each lot selected and cut according 

 to the prevailing method of cutting pork for the American market, and each piece 

 weighed and properly tagged, giving commercial names. I think, however, that 

 the names are appended only to one set of cuts, but you will be able to apply these 

 names to corresponding cuts of the other carcasses. I have directed Swift & Co. to 

 forward this material to you, including all scraps and trimmings made in cutting, 

 and to deliver it to you at their earliest convenience. They stated that they would 

 probably have one of their refrigerator cars leaving for Washington to-day, and 

 that they would notify you upon its arrival at their house in Washington and deliver 

 the pork upon your order. 

 Very truly, yours, 



C. F. CURTISS. 

 Dr. H. W. WILEY, 



Chief of Division of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. 



BREEDS OF HOGS STUDIED. 



In accordance with the plan outlined in the above letters, on Novem- 

 ber 16, 1897, Swift & Co., of Chicago, shipped to the Department of 

 Agriculture the carcasses of eight pigs which had been slaughtered 

 under the direction of Professor Ourtiss. These pigs were of the fol- 

 lowing breeds, each auimal being designated by a number, which is 

 used for its identification throughout the following pages : 



1, Berkshire; 2, Tarn worth; 3, Chester White; 4, Poland China; 5, 

 -Duroc Jersey; 6, Duroc Jersey; 7, Duroc Jersey; 8, Yorkshire. 



On the receipt of the animals in Washington, they were immediately 

 placed in cold storage, where they were kept until they were removed 

 one by one for the purpose of dissecting and preparing the samples for 

 analysis. 



The expert labor of assistants in the meat markets of Washington 

 was secured for the purpose of properly dissecting the animals and 



