2I 4 



Firmness of Bacon. 



pounds. They were then divided into three lots, and fed for six 

 weeks as follows : — Lot i, rape with a mixture of equal parts,, 

 by weight, of peas, barley, and shorts, the maize ration being 

 two-thirds of that fed to Lot 2, which received maize-meal 

 alone, and Lot 3, peas, barley, and shorts. 



The third group included twelve pure-bred hogs of six 

 different breeds, each of which was represented by two 

 animals, which were purchased when from seven to nine 

 weeks old. This group was also divided into three lots 

 as follows : — The hogs in Lot 1 were kept in pens with small 

 outside yards, two hogs in each pen. From June 14th to 

 August 19th they were fed with wheat-middlings mixed with 

 water. From the 19th August to the 12th September they 

 were fed with equal parts, by weight, of wheat, shorts, and 

 barley, with water. From the 12th September to the 24th 

 October (the close of the experiment) they were fed with 

 equal parts, by weight, of peas, barley, and shorts, with water. 

 The hogs in Lot 2 were given exactly the same treatment and 

 the same meal ration as those in Lot 1, but were fed with 

 whey in addition — about two pounds of whey to one of meal. 

 The hogs in Lot 3 had the run of a half-acre plot, which 

 furnished some grass until about the middle of August. 

 They received exactly the same ration as Lot 1 . Thus, Lots 

 1 and 2 were kept under the same conditions, but received 

 different rations ; while Lots 1 and 3 received the same 

 rations, but were kept under different conditions. 



At the close of the experiments all the hogs were 

 slaughtered, and the different lots were kept separate w^hen 

 in the salt. When they were taken out of the salt, the 

 firmness of the bacon was carefullv noted, and the results of 

 the examination furnish some interesting points. As 

 regards the first group, all the pigs fed on rape and maize 

 meal, and on maize meal alone, produced firm bacon, while 

 tenderness was developed only in the lot fed on peas, barley, 

 and shorts. It is scarcely probable that this tenderness was 

 due to the food, since only one hog was tender while the 

 other three were remarkably firm. It must not be assumed 

 that maize will not produce soft bacon, for it must be borne 

 in mind that the hogs in this group were strong and fleshy 



