1921.] 



Pigs for Pork. 



609 



in most parts of the country this preference for a pig of a 

 certain colour was most probably attributable to fancy. There 

 might have been some slight cause for the preference for a pig 

 of a dark colour in those parts of the country where the hair 

 of the pigs was removed by burning instead of by the more 

 common plan of scalding, as the singed white pig did not 

 present so pleasant an appearance to the eye and to the buyer 

 of the meat as did a black pig which had been singed. 



Until within comparatively recent years there was little 

 difference in the class of pig and the degree of fatness between 

 the pig killed for pork and the pig which was intended to be 

 cured for bacon. Indeed, a very large proportion of the fat 

 pigs were killed during the winter months and the same pig 

 afforded both the joints of fresh pork which consisted of the 

 loin, spare ribs, &c., and the parts intended to be salted and 

 dried for consumption as bacon, during the following summer. 

 There was thus little necessity for that variation in the age and 

 degree of fatness of the slaughtered pig which exists to so great 

 an extent at the present time, nor did there then exist that 

 keen demand for small joints of pork from young pigs which has 

 in recent years caused so great attention to be paid to the early 

 maturing qualities of the smaller breeds of pigs. 



The changes in the size, degree of fatness and age of the 

 fattened pigs have originated in various ways. The introduc- 

 tion of railways and the consequent free movement of fat pigs 

 from one district to adjoining or even distant ones had a great 

 effect, whilst a still more potent influence may have been the 

 enormous increase in the spending power of the wage-earning 

 classes. The large joints of exceedingly fat pork and the 

 heavily salted and thick sides of bacon from aged pigs are no 

 longer saleable, even to those engaged in strenuous labour. 

 The present demand is for small joints of pork and mild-cured 

 bacon from young pigs, because these are finer in flavour and 

 much more easily digested, and probably because a much larger 

 quantity can be consumed without serious inconvenience. 



It may also be possible that fashion was not without its 

 influence on the change in the type of fat pig generally in 

 demand. Some fifty or sixty years ago, when agricultural 

 shows became common, the fashionable pig was small in size 

 and excessively fat, the greatest offenders in these respects 

 being the small white and the small black breeds of pigs, 

 strongly supported by the then fashionable Berkshire pig. 

 This craze for small and pretty pigs was speedily followed by 



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