Firmness of Bacon. 



215 



before the maize-feeding commenced, and that they had had 

 an abundance of exercise up to the commencement of the 

 experiment. It is fairly safe to assume, however, that neither 

 maize nor rape will injure hogs that have been reared in this 

 manner; but the influence of maize on very young animals is 

 not shown in this experiment. 



All the hogs of the second group received the same 

 treatment previous to the commencement of the experiment. 

 Tenderness was evinced in Lot 1 only, which received 

 peas, barley, and shorts with rape. It would seem 

 logical to attribute the tenderness to the rape, but an 

 objection to this conclusion is encountered on reference to 

 Lot 1 of the first group, where rape produced no injurious 

 effect. Possibly the hogs in this lot, having had no exercise 

 like those in the first group, were more susceptible to injury 

 from rape feeding. Six weeks of maize feeding produced no 

 bad results in this group. 



Some very striking observations were made regarding the 

 animals in group 3, for whilst the condition of the first 

 lot was very bad, it was very satisfactory in the second lot. 

 The only difference in the treatment of these two lots consisted 

 in feeding whey to Lot 2 along with the meal, and giving Lot 1 

 water and meal only. The difference in firmness was so 

 striking that it seems conclusive that whey tends to produce 

 firm bacon. Again, whilst the pigs of Lot 3 of this group 

 were not in satisfactory condition, they were decidedly 

 superior to those of Lot 1 in point of firmness. The same 

 rations were fed tc these two lots of animals, but the third 

 had access to half an acre of ground whilst small yards only 

 were attached to the pens of Lot 1 . The outdoor feeding, there- 

 fore, proved more satisfactory than the inside feeding when 

 the ration was the same In spite of lack of exercise, however 

 the animals which received whey were the best of the group. 



The results of these experiments are summarised as 

 follows : — Maize apparently produces no evil effects upon the 

 firmness of bacon when used for finishing hogs that have 

 plenty of exercise until they reach about 100 pounds live 

 weight. Neither does maize appear to have any bad effects 

 when used for finishing hogs that have had no exercise, but 



