HOG 



HOG 



wouhl proJufO, when very fat, at 

 least 70 per cent., after taking out 

 only the hams. 



"The steaming apparatus is merely 

 a tub witli a false bottom, perforated 

 with holes, lying about two inches 

 above the bottom. The steam is in- 

 troduced between the two bottoms, 

 and so entirely separates the fat from 

 the cells in wiiich it was enclosed 

 that no pressing of scraps is neces- 

 sary. The bones, lean, and scrap 

 are left on the false bottom, and the 

 lard floats on the surface. With 

 steam, at a pressure of five lbs. to 

 the inch, it will require from 18 to 20 

 hours to try off" a tubful of any given 

 quantity, steam in proportion, of 

 course ; 60 lbs. pressure would do it 

 in one third the time. The great ad- 

 vantage of steam is, the whole of the 

 lard or tallow is produced, and there 

 is no danger of burning either. 



" The quality of the lard is good, 

 but not equal to leaf lard or suet ; the 

 carcass fat does not contain as much 

 of the concrete principle (stearin). 

 ^Vliole hog lard cannot be refined and 

 made hard without a portion of the 

 oil is extracted. I take from 20 to 40 

 per cent, of the oil ; then the balance 

 goes through several washings in 

 pure rain water by steam, after which 

 it is refined lard. The expense is 

 not more than one quarter cent per 

 pound, but it is of more value to us 

 than common lard, as we have a great 

 deal of trouble and expense with it ; 

 and in only extracting a portion of 

 the oil we would lose by it, did it not 

 command a better price in the mar- 

 ket, which it should from its purity. 



" The bones are worth at least 

 half a cent per pound to calcine. 

 From them ivory black is made 

 (worth 2^ cents per pound), by char- 

 ring them in close iron vessels. 



" I used to decompose the lard in 

 acid and neutral salts. When the 

 affinity between the parts is destroy- 

 ed, I separate them by means of can- 

 vass bags placed in powerful screw- 

 presses. If I wish to make candles 

 of the residue, the pressure is con- 

 tinued until all the oil, by this means, 

 is forced out. The contents of the 



Ii2 



bags are then subjected to the action 

 I of a powerful hydraulic press, and tho 

 stearin pressed to dryness. 



" To produce the winter oil, we 

 have to expose the decomposed lard 

 to the cold." 



For the purpose of furnishing most 

 oil, the hogs are fed on oil cake, cot- 

 ton-seed cake, fla.xseed, beech-nuts, 

 and anything that is full of grease. 



The perfect separation of tlie stear- 

 in of lard and suet is the subject of 

 several patents, and belongs to the 

 department of manufactures, as the 

 process requires much machinery, 

 and is full of chemical details. 



Oxen and sheep are now steamed 

 in the same way as hogs in the West 

 for their tallow. See Ox. 



HOG-STY. " Much of the profit of 

 breeding and fattening hogs depends 

 on the economy of labour in prepa- 

 ring their food. Any place is often 

 thought good enough to lodge a pig 

 in, and a sty is a word synonymous 

 with a filthy place ; but in every 

 well-arranged farm-yard there should 

 be a convenient place for keeping 

 hogs and feeding them, which may 

 be erected at a small expense, and 

 which will soon repay the outlay. 

 There should be a place to boil and 

 mix the food in, with one or more 

 large coppers, and a steaming appa- 

 ratus. The food should be mixed in 

 square brick tanks sunk in the ground 

 and cemented, that there may be no 

 filtrations. If there is only one tank, 

 there should be a partition in it. 

 From the boiling-house there should 

 be an immediate communication with 

 the feeding-sties, undercover, if pos- 

 sible. Each sty should open into a 

 small yard behind, which should com- 

 municate by a door with the princi- 

 pal farm-yard, where the barn is sit- 

 uated, in which the corn is thrashed, 

 and be enclosed with a low wall or 

 paling. There should be separate 

 sties for breeding-sows, for porkers, 

 and for fatting hogs. Not more than 

 three or four of the latter should be 

 in one sty. The food should be given 

 in troughs, in a separate compart- 

 ment from that in which the hogs lie 

 down, and no litter should be allowed 



377 



