368 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



77 to 82 per cent of carcass to live weight, and when packer dressed 

 69 to 74 per cent, varying according to form and finish. 



Butcher hogs are divided into heavy weights, medium weights, 

 and Hght weights. These divisions include hogs that are essentially 

 alike except as to age and weight. The older and heavier butcher hogs 

 also average somewhat higher in condition and average about 2 per 

 cent higher in dressing yield than the medium weights, and the latter 

 average about 1 per cent higher than light butcher hogs. 



Packing Hogs 



Packing hogs are inferior hogs weighing from 190 pounds up. 

 Most of them are sows which have been used as breeders, but the class 

 also includes coarse, unfinished barrows and the best stags. Sows 



Fig. 136. — Medium-weight butcher hogs. 



which show indications of pregnancy sell with a dockage of 40 pounds. 

 Roughs, coarse stags, and boars are not included in the packing class, 

 but sell separately and at lower prices. The best packing hogs yield 

 loins which are used in the fresh meat trade, but the sides (including 

 the loins) of most packing hogs are used for mess pork, barreled pork, 

 and dry-salt meats, and the hams and shoulders are sweet pickled and 

 may be smoked, but are not of the best quality and are not sold under 

 the best packer brands. The best use of packing hogs requires the 

 manufacture of a larger proportion of salted and pickled products than 

 is true of any other class of hogs. This class is therefore of particular 

 interest to packers who supply the trade in the cheaper kinds of cured 

 meats, and the name "packing hogs" is therefore given to this class. 

 They dress from 77 to 83 per cent shipper style, and 69 to 75 per cent 

 packer style. 



