72 
Pigs and Bacon. 
became so embarrassed by a demand for lean bacon, out of all 
proportion to the supplies of lean pigs obtainable from the 
farmers, that it became inevitable that some drastic change 
should be made in the methods of purchase. It was felt that 
thickness of fat as well as weight would have to govern the 
value, and after much anxious thought a “scale” or “dock” 
was introduced whereby, to secure the best prices, carcasses 
had not only to come between certain desirable weights, but 
in addition might not exceed two-and-a-quarter inches of 
thickness of fat in any part of the back. Well, such a revo- 
lution, introduced as it was with a convincing determination 
that it had come to stay, undoubtedly caused feeders to study 
more closely what foods were fat-producing, what were not, 
and how they could best secure the highest market prices. 
Many experiments were made both privately and by public 
bodies such as the County Councils, and probably one of the 
most useful series took place in my own county of Wiltshire, 
where upwards of forty diets were tried under uniform con- 
ditions by a representative committee, over which I had the 
privilege to preside. But it was also during this time that 
the pedigree boars w'ere being distributed, together with a 
profusion of literature urging breeders to confine themselves 
to those pigs alone whose progeny might be depended upon to 
find a ready market. Satisfactory results w'ere not long in 
asserting themselves. Only a year or two passed before the 
percentage of lean pigs began to increase, and roughly speaking 
it may be hazarded that by the year 1900 a point had been 
reached where, at all events in the case of the West of England 
pigs, the proportion of lean to fat pigs emanating from feeders 
generally was all that could I)e desired and all that was 
required by curers to meet the demands of their customers. 
Since the date just mentioned this satisfactory state of things 
has continued, and now I come to the point which demon- 
strates not only the wisdom of the 1893 action but shows how 
important a factor the breed is — as distinct from the feed — 
in the hog-raising industry. The “ scale ” (or “ dock ” as it 
was more generally termed) wsis always recognised alike by 
farmer and curer to be a necessary evil and expedient, and 
undoubtedly in many cases apparent hardships arose which 
mitigated against the supply ; so it may be imagined that 
universal satisfaction was felt in February last when the cui'ers 
came to the conclusion that so marked an improvement had 
taken place in the whole character and breed of the present 
day pig, as compared with its ancestors, that they were justified 
in removing the whole of the restrictions which for fifteen 
years had been imposed upon the thickness of fat. In other 
words, the pig of the future was to be paid for entirely by 
