344 



Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



spare ribs, and belly. These wholesale cuts are shown in the drawings 

 which accompany this chapter. (See Fig. 129.) 



The part labeled "fat back" is a clear layer of outside fat contain- 

 ing no lean meat. Studies of the carcasses of cattle and sheep disclose 

 the fact that it is easily possible to feed a steer or a wether too long, 

 and thus make the animal too fat to suit the consumer. One-half to 

 three-fourths of an inch of outside fat is all that is wanted on the car- 

 casses of cattle, and for mutton and lamb the desired thickness is 

 proportionate to the requirements for cattle. With fat hogs we find 

 an entirely different state of affairs, for the packer wants a thick layer 

 of fat over the top of the hog. This heavy layer of fat constitutes a 

 separate cut known as the fat back, which may be rendered into lard, 

 or dry salted and sold as a dry-salt cut. When manufactured into lard 



Fig. 133. — A side of pork. Sawing through ribs preliminary to cutting into 

 loin, fat back, spare ribs, and belly. The thick layer of clear fat covering the loin 

 is the fat back. The belly is streaked with lean. The spare ribs are trimmed from 

 the belly. The front or shoulder end of the side was toward the camera. 



they render 85 to 88 per cent. About one-half of them are sold as a 

 dry-salt cut for which a demand exists in the South and in Europe. 

 Lard is more valuable than tallow, hence the difference in the packer's 

 attitude toward high finish in the lard hog as compared with a similar 

 degree of fatness in cattle or sheep. 



The belly contains streaks of lean and is suitable for a "breakfast 

 bacon belly" if the cut is from a light-weight hog. If the hog is heavy, 

 the belly cut is dry salted or pickled and is known as a "dry-salt belly" 

 or as a "sweet-pickle belly," and these sell at lower prices. 



Mr. L. D. H. Weld, of the Commercial Research Department of 

 Swift and Company, Chicago, has supplied the writer with the follow- 



