SWINE GEORGE E. DAY. 13 



don, and customers are found among the well-to-do classes, 

 who are willing to pay a premium for an article of superior 

 quality. At the present time, Canada's most formidable 

 competitor is Denmark. The Danes produce an article of 

 higher average quality than that produced by the Canadians, 

 and obtain a higher average price on the London market. 

 The only thing which enables Canada to compete with Den- 

 mark, is the fact that Canadians can feed their hogs more 

 cheaply than the Danes, and thus can afiford to undersell 

 them. The great drawback to Canadian bacon is its lack 

 of uniformity. There are too many breeds of swine in 

 Canada to have uniformity in the quality of bacon, and the 

 sooner Canadians realize this fact, and make a special effort 

 to produce exactly what the market demands, the better it 

 will be for their trade ; because there is no reason why 

 Canada cannot produce as good bacon as Denmark, if her 

 farmers go about their business with the same intelligence. 



The Bacon Hog. To produce a good Wiltshire side of 

 bacon requires a hog of certain definite peculiarities as to 

 weight, condition, and conformation. The customers for 

 this class of bacon are extremely fastidious, and if the bacon 

 does not come up to the standard in every particular, it is 

 very heavily discounted in price. As a rule, the weight 

 limits are usually fixed at i6o pounds to 200 pounds live 

 weight. It is true that a hog may weigh slightly more than 

 200 pounds and still make a very good Wiltshire side, but 

 most hogs are apt to be too fat after they pass the 200 pound 

 mark, and consequently this is fixed as the limit, though it is 

 not strictly adhered to. The most desirable weights are 

 from 175 pounds to 190 pounds live weight. As to condi- 

 tion, it is possible to have the hog too thin or too fat. When 

 the carcass is split down the back, the layer of fat along the 

 back should run from an inch to an inch and a half in 

 thickness, and should be as uniform in thickness as possible 

 from the loin to the neck. In conformation, the most 

 noticeable features are length from shoulder to ham ; light- 



