JUDGING THE LARD TYPE OF SWIXK J<)l 



in America, after scalding are passed through an artificial 

 scraping machine to remove the hair, it can easily be under- 

 stood why buyers prefer hogs with smooth skins rather than 

 rough, creasy ones. The skin of the hog should also be mel- 

 low and uniform in quality over the entire body. The skin 

 about the shoulder, however, is tougher and thicker than it 

 is elsewhere. The pressure of the finger tips, or even of 

 a cane, on the skin at different points, will clearly 

 demonstrate this difference. On the males, the skin often 

 assumes great thickness and hardness at the shoulders, 

 forming what the swine breeder calls the ' * shields. ' ' These 

 are essentially an inheritance from the wild hog, and serve 

 as a protection from injury of the vital parts while fighting. 

 Boars fight by striking with their heads and tusks against 

 the heads and shoulders of their opponents. The strong 

 tusks of the boar cannot easily tear through this shield. In 

 the improved breeds of to-day, as reflected in the case of the 

 fat market hog, heavy, rough skin at the shoulder is objec- 

 tionable. The fat barrow, for example, should have a skin 

 exhibiting but little variation in quality at shoulder 

 or ham. A scurfy, scaly condition of skin may be 

 due to various causes, but is decidedly objection- 

 able. In hot climates white breeds are often troubled 

 with sun scald and scurfiness, for which reason hogs 

 of this color are not popular in the south. A black 

 or red skin absorbs heat from the air more quickly than 

 does the white, but these also radiate the heat more rapidly, 

 which process serves to cool the body. This explains why, 

 in the tropics, the dark-skinned hog is more popular than 

 the white, being associated with more comfort in keeping 

 cool. 



The character of the bone in the hog is an important 

 indicator of quality. The bones about the head and legs 

 serve as the index of quality. If large and coarse, in pro- 

 portion to size of body, then quality is lacking, for beyond 

 a certain indefinable point, all excess bone is undesirable, 

 as representing waste from a food point of view. Bone in 



