MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATIONS 133 



that lean meat or fat can be developed to any extent which 

 the feeder may desire. N"ature has set a limit in this con- 

 nection, and what may be accomplished by the feeder in the 

 way of developing lean meat cannot go beyond a certain point. 

 The theory that any breed of hogs can be fed in such a way 

 as to produce choice bacon for the English market is not borne 

 out by these or any other experiments, nor by the experience 

 of practical breeders who really understand the demands of 

 the market. 



A peculiar feature of swine is their tendency to develop 

 fat. If the very best specimens of the bacon type are fed 

 largely upon corn, they quickly assume the fat or lard type, 

 and in one or two generations of such treatment the tendency 

 to become shorter in side and thicker in body becomes so 

 firmly fixed that it is very difficult to change them back to the 

 bacon type again under any system of breeding and feeding. 

 On the other hand, breeders of bacon hogs know that it re- 

 quires careful selection and feeding to maintain the type. 

 Even under the most favorable conditions there is a tendency 

 for the bacon type to change gradually in the direction of the 

 fat type, unless care is exercised in selection. It is safe to say, 

 therefore, that it is easier to increase the proportion of fat 

 in a hog's carcass than it is to increase the proportion of lean, 

 and that the extent to which the lean may be increased by 

 the character of the feed is very limited and is fixed by the 

 individuality of the animal. Further, any attempt to increase 

 the amount of lean through feeding must be started when the 

 pig is very young in order to be successful. 



Causes of Soft Bacon. — In the manufacture of " Wiltshire 

 sides " Canadian packers have experienced a great deal of 

 difiiculty with 'sides turning soft in the process of curing. In 

 a soft side the fat is soft and spongy, and sometimes the lean 



