SWINE GEORGE E. DAT. 79 



hogs SO as to have them up to the required weights at a 

 very early age has a tendency to injure the firmness of the 

 bacon. In this connection, however, it must be remembered 

 that some hogs are more mature at six months than others 

 may be at seven or eight months. If a hog is naturally 

 growthy and thrifty, and reaches the desired weight at 

 six months of age without excessive forcing, the chances are 

 that the bacon from such a hog will be quite satisfactory. 

 Good growthy hogs can easily be satisfactorily finished by 

 the time they are from six to seven months old. 



Production of Firm Bacon. 



From what has been said, it will be seen that softness may 

 result from a number of causes, and it is probable that there 

 are causes outside of those mentioned. Enough has been 

 said, however, to place the feeder on his guard against the 

 most common causes, and below are offered a few sugges- 

 tions regarding methods of feeding and management which 

 have been found to give good results. 



As already stated, exclusive meal feeding is apt to injure 

 the quality of bacon, and it does not give such economical 

 gains as a mixed diet. Among the foods which may be used 

 along with meal are skim milk, whey, roots, rape, vetches, 

 clover, soja beans, artichokes, or almost any bulky, succu- 

 lent food. Such foods, combined with a liberal meal ration, 

 invariably give better gains than an exclusive meal ration, 

 and produce a better quality of bacon. It is probable that 

 much of the beneficial influence of these foods is due to the 

 fact that they help to keep the animals healthy and thrifty, 

 a condition necessary to the production of the best quality of 

 bacon. 



But while these succulent foods have an important place 

 in hog feeding, they may also be abused. If an attempt is 

 made to feed hogs almost exclusively upon them, the chances 

 are that the hogs will not be properly finished and soft bacon 

 will likely result. 



