342 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



Carcass weight 



Smooth Heavy, or Heavj' Loin Carcasses 240 — 400 lb 



Butcher, or Light Loin Carcasses 160 — 240 lb 



fHeavy 240—400 lb 



• Medium 200—240 lb 



Light 100—200 lb 



Choice 120—160 lb 



•Good 110— 170 1b 



Common 90—110 lb 



Shippers 100—200 lb 



Pigs , 20—100 lb 



Packing Hog Carcasses. 

 Bacon Carcasses 



Smooth heavy, or heavy loin carcasses constitute a very small 

 part of the general supply. They are from prime heavy hogs of good 

 quality, either barrows or good clear (not seedy) sows. They have 

 over 4 inches of fat on the back. They yield heavy loins, hams, 

 shoulders, fat backs, and dry-salt bellies, though at times they are cut 

 into the same products as heavy packing hogs. 



Butcher or light loin carcasses yield the best loins. A large pro- 

 portion of the fresh pork sold in retail markets is pork loins, which are 

 cut into chops and roasts. Only the best carcasses weighing 160 to 

 240 pounds from barrows and smooth clear sows classify here. The 

 covering of fat on the back should be from 2 to 4 inches in thickness. 

 The carcass is cut into the regular American or lard-hog cuts. (See 

 Fig. 129.) The bellies are sweet pickled and the lighter and leaner 

 ones are smoked and sold as breakfast-bacon bellies. 



Packing hog carcasses constitute about one-half of the hog car- 

 casses in Chicago packing houses. These are inferior carcasses of all 

 weights ranging from 100 pounds upwards. They are coarse, rough, 

 and unevenly finished. They are not well adapted for fresh pork 

 products or smoked meats, and the sides are therefore principally 

 packed as mess pork, barreled pork, and dry-salt meats. In times of 

 scarcity, however, the sides are cut into loins, fat backs, and bellies, 

 the same as butcher hogs. This is more often true of the light and 

 medium-weight packing carcasses than of the heavy ones. The hams 

 are sweet pickled and the shoulders made into picnics and Boston 

 butts. 



Bacon carcasses are the lighter, thinner carcasses suitable for 

 sugar-cured breakfast-bacon bellies and English cuts, so called because 

 they are suitable for the English trade. The principal English cuts 

 are Wiltshire sides, Cumberland sides, and long-cut hams. The Wilt- 

 shire side comprises the entire side (half the hog), minus the head, 

 shanks, shoulder blade, and hip bone. The belly is trimmed smooth 

 and even. These sides average 40 to 70 pounds and are selected espec- 

 ially for thickness of lean meat and a light, even covering of fat from 

 1 to 2y2 inches thick, not exceeding 13/^ inches in the best grade. 

 They are made exclusively from choice, lean bacon hogs. Fig. 129 



