I9Q9-] 



Co-operative Bacon Curing. 



107 



more remarkable when it is considered how important pig 

 breeding and bacon curing are as an adjunct of dairy 

 farming, and there can be little doubt that the absence of 

 technical instruction results in an immense waste in by- 

 products and in imperfectly manufactured articles, which 

 would be avoided by men skilled in the science of the busi- 

 ness. In other countries, notably in the United States of 

 America, the packing houses have found that, by devoting 

 attention to the by-products, they have opened up new 

 and highly remunerative sources of revenue which were 

 hardly thought of 25 years ago. The analytical chemist and 

 the bacteriologist are considered essential in the economy 

 of an American packing house of any pretensions. Hence 

 these packing houses can, by bringing the best scientific 

 knowledge to their assistance, place their main products in 

 distant markets in other countries at a price below that of 

 the home-produced articles. 



It is not suggested that there should be a scientific staff 

 in the comparatively small bacon factories of the United 

 Kingdom, but it is none the less desirable that facilities for 

 the technical instruction of managers should be provided at 

 our colleges, so that men who propose to make a business 

 of bacon curing may have opportunities of acquiring a know- 

 ledge of the technique of the subject. A bacon factory 

 manager should be conversant with the breeding of pigs and 

 the principles which govern their development for bacon 

 purposes. He should also have some knowledge of their 

 anatomical structure and of veterinary science relating to 

 them. To this may be added a knowledge of the chemistry 

 and bacteriology of meats, as well as of the curing processes, 

 and of the uses to which the by-products in a bacon factory 

 may be put. At the present day the by-products are prac- 

 tically wasted, and it is no exaggeration to say that if this 

 department of the subject were better understood, it would 

 add considerably to the profits of the bacon curing industry. 



