SWINE GEOEQE E. DAT. 77 



If the young boars are not intended for breeding purposes, 

 they should be castrated before they are weaned. 



FINISHING FOR MARKET. 



I. Finishing the Bacon Hog. 



If Canadians are to maintain and develop their trade in 

 bacon with Great Britain, it is of the greatest importance 

 that they pay strict attention to quality. Not only must 

 their hogs be bred to give the desired conformation, but they 

 must be fed and managed in such a way as to give the de- 

 sired quality. One of the greatest defects in quality with 

 which Canadian packers have to contend is a tendency of 

 some of the sides to turn soft during the process of curing. 

 Softness has nothing to do with fatness ; in fact, a thin side 

 is more apt to develop softness than a fat one. In a soft side 

 the fat is soft and spongy, and sometimes even the lean is 

 affected. There are all degrees of softness, shading all the 

 way from sides which are decidedly soft up to those which 

 show only a slight tenderness ; but any degree of tenderness 

 detracts very much from the value of a side, and a really 

 soft side is practically worthless. The percentage of soft 

 sides is sometimes very high, even as high as 15 per cent, 

 of the total at certain seasons of the year. It will be readily 

 understood that such a condition represents an enormous 

 shrinkage in value ; and this loss is bound to be reflected in 

 the prices paid the farmer for his hogs, to say nothing of 

 the injury to the reputation of Canadian bacon in Great 

 Britain. This is not a matter, therefore, which affects 

 merely the packer. It affects the bacon industry as a whole, 

 and the farmer, sooner or later, must shoulder the loss. 

 This being the case, it is important that the farmer should 

 pay more attention to the question of quality. 



Causes of Soft Bacon. 



A great deal of experimental work has been performed by 

 the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Ontario, and the 



