134 RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS IN SWINE FEEDING 
is affected. A really soft side is practically worthless, and 
even a slight degree of tenderness detracts very seriously from 
the value of the bacon. 
The Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, and the Centrak 
Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada, have conducted ex- 
haustive experiments in connection with the causes of soft 
bacon, and following are the principal points brought out in 
the investigation: 
1. Lach of Maturity—Generally speaking, the more im- 
mature a hog is, the greater the tendency to be soft. Almost 
invariably the largest percentage of softness occurs among the 
light sides of bacon. 
2. Lack of Finish—Thin hogs have a marked tendency 
to produce soft bacon. Marketing hogs before they are finished 
is, no doubt, responsible for a great deal of softness. 
3. Unthriftiness in hogs, no matter what the cause may 
be, almost invariably produces soft bacon. 
4. Lack of exercise has a tendency to produce softness, 
but this tendency can be largely overcome by judicious feeding. 
5. Exclusive meal feeding is perhaps one of the most com- 
mon causes of softness, especially when hogs are not given 
exercise. Some kinds of meal are more injurious than others, 
but wherever exclusive meal feeding is practised and the ex- 
ercise is limited, more or less softness is always sure to result. 
6. Corn.—Of the grains in common use, corn has the 
greatest tendency to produce softness. Its injurious tendency 
can be modified by mixing it largely with other meal, or by 
feeding skim-milk, green feed, and roots, but its tendency to 
produce softness is so strong that it must be regarded as an un- 
desirable food for bacon hogs. 
Corn appears to give a good quality of meat in the case 
of the lard hog, but it must be remembered that the bacon 
hog is marketed at lighter weights and in thinner condition 
