ANIMAL PRODUCTS 



241 



situated near the stomach. It is func- 

 tional throughout life, but in older ani- 

 mals becomes tough and less desirable 

 for food. The thymus, located in the 

 neck, is largest and best while milk is 

 an important part of the ration. Later 

 it degenerates and becomes valueless or 

 nearly disappears. Both sweetbreads in 

 the veal calf are sold together and weigh 

 about one-half pound. 



Fig. 167 CHICAGO WHOLESALE BEEF CUTS 



(From U. S. Dept. Agric. Bur. Anim. Ind.) 



MEAT PREPARATIONS AND BY- 

 PRODUCTS 



In the case of cattle, the hides come 

 first in importance. As shown by Wilder, 

 methods in packing houses have greatly 

 improved, so that the hides are not cut 

 or scored, except in the rarest cases, not 

 more than ten out of 1,000 hides being 

 rated as second class. The slightest 

 scratch injures the grain of the hide for 

 leather purposes and lowers the price 

 correspondingly. Consequently, careful 

 attention is given to this point. On 

 account of the greater skill shown in 

 removing hides in packing houses, 

 these hides sell for about 1 cent a 

 pound more than country hides, 

 which are nearly always injured 

 by careless skinning. Care is ex- 

 ercised also not to injure the hides 

 by prodding the cattle and not to 

 get blood in the hides. Buyers 

 prefer bright, clean skins. 



Hides should not carry an ex- 

 cess of moisture. Wilder found 

 that hides cured in a room with- 

 out much air circulation and with 

 a temperature not above 60° F., 

 even in the hottest weather, lost 

 only 14.7 per cent by shrinkage in one 

 year, while in warmer rooms, with free 

 ventilation, they lost 16.7 per cent. Sev- 

 eral market grades of hides have been 

 established. Native hides are from na- 

 tive steers without brands. Texas hides 

 are from southern cattle, thick and 

 heavy, and with or without brands. Butt 

 brand hides are from native or western 

 steers branded on the butt. Colorados 

 are thin western hides branded on the 



side. The ox warble fly produces grubs 

 in the skin and lowers the price of in- 

 fested hides 1 cent a pound. The salt 

 used on hides is made of three parts rock 

 salt and one part fine salt. The salt is 

 kept clean and is used at the rate of 

 about 32 pounds per hide. The hides 

 are stacked in piles, so that the outer 

 edges are highest. The tail brush and 

 ragged edges are trimmed off and the 

 butt of the ears is split. Hides are 

 left in the pack from 25 to 30 days, 

 after which they are considered 

 cured and ready for shipment. 



SLeep pelts—Sheep pelts, espe- 

 cially in hot weather, are spread out 

 in a cool room as soon as removed 

 and allowed to cool for 12 hours be- 

 fore being salted. Otherwise pelts 

 with a heavy fleece will spoil by 

 heating and decomposition. If the 

 wool slips, the leather of the skin is 

 worthless. After cooling, the pelts are 

 salted with fine salt and stacked in 

 piles about 2V 2 feet high, flesh side up. 

 At the end of a week, the piles are 

 shifted and after two weeks the pelts are 

 ready for shipment. 



Beef tallow and oleo oil ln render- 

 ing tallow it is made unfit for use as a 

 food material by subjection to a temper- 

 ature of about 280° F., or 40 pounds of 

 steam pressure. This gives us the prod- 

 uct "rendered tallow." Melted oleo, on 

 the other hand, used in the manufacture 



CHICAGO RETAIL BEEF CUTS 

 Dept. Agric. Bur. Anim. Ind.) 



of oleomargarine, is the product of beef 

 fat first disintegrated by machinery and 

 then rendered at a temperature of 150 

 to 155° F. All fat which is soiled in 

 slaughtering is used for tallow, while 

 all clean fat or oleo fat is used for oleo 

 oil. Oleo fat is first washed, then hashed, 

 chilled and rendered. About 90 per cent 

 of the oleo oil made in this country is 

 shipped to Holland. Packers find that 



