4 BULLETIX 1086, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
enced by the packers in commercial trade, and to use, so far as pos- 
sible, their methods in curing, handling, and marketing the product. 
On account of the lack of adequate facilities and sufficient funds to 
conduct the tests independently with a quantity of meat large enough 
to be representative of the packers' volume, the tests were conducted 
in one of the large packing plants at Fort Worth and in another at 
East St. Louis. The two packing companies provided the hogs, 
which were selected by the representatives of the Bureau of Markets 
assigned to conduct the tests. The companies also provided all of 
the necessary help and facilities, and in every way cooperated to the 
fullest extent. The work at each plant was under the direct super- 
vision of a representative of the Bureau of Markets who was familiar 
with packing-house conditions and who had had several years' experi- 
ence in conducting tests of a similar nature. The tests were begun 
in February and completed in June, 1919. 
PLAN OF EXPERIMENT. 
A series of 8 tests, in which the carcasses of 600 hogs were utilized, 
was conducted at Fort Worth, Tex., and a series of 4 tests with 200 
hogs was carried on at East St. Louis, 111. 
In making the killing tests at Fort Worth, 24 lots of 25 hogs each 
were used. There were 8 lots each of the oily, soft, and firm classes. 
These tests were conducted in series, using 75 hogs for each test at 
Fort Worth and 50 at East St. Louis. At Fort Worth they were 
divided into lots of 25 in each of the 3 classes. Lots 1, 2, 3 represent 
one test and 4, 5, 6 another. The 3 lots in each test were taken 
through all curing processes and the retaining period at the same 
time. They were handled under identical conditions, and all tests 
were conducted alike. 
The hogs were bought on the open market, divided, marked, and 
closely followed through every process of slaughter, curing, and 
retaining by a bureau representative. Those bought at Fort Worth 
averaged approximately 175 pounds in weight, while those, pur- 
chased at East St. Louis were slightly heavier. The lots classed as 
oily at Fort Worth, however, were omitted in the East St. Louis 
tests because the cooler experts at that market made no distinction 
between soft and oily carcasses. 
The hogs were selected according to weight, quality, and finish, 
and care was taken to get them as nearly alike as possible. Care 
also was used in selecting hogs to see that they came from territory 
which would as nearly as possible insure their chilling either firm 
or oily as desired, because there was no known method of determin- 
ing before it was slaughtered how a live hog would chill out. 
This was demonstrated several times in these tests and may be seen 
by a comparison of the live-weight and chill-room records of Tables 
