178 
PORK—BACON—HAM.—NO. 3. 
PORK—BACON—HAM—No. 3. 
In choosing a breed of pigs which is intended 
lo be sold to parties who follow the business of 
bacon curing, the size of the breed will be 
greatly determined by the market in which 
they are to be disposed of. Very large fat ba¬ 
con is principally required for the mining dis¬ 
tricts of Warwickshire, the Potteries, and the 
manufacturing districts of Lancashire and York¬ 
shire. “ Middles ” are also sent from London 
and Liverpool to the agricultural counties. Gen¬ 
erally speaking, large-sized bacon is the favor¬ 
ite kind amongst farmers. The objectionable 
feature in the larger breeds is the length of 
time they require before arriving at maturity; 
whilst growing, they doubtless increase in size 
at a small expense of food, and will eat matter 
that will be refused by fattening pigs, and in 
this respect, perhaps, they are the most valua¬ 
ble animals of any; that is, to fare by chance. 
If, however, they have to be maintained on food 
which has to be specially provided, I cannot 
think that they will yield an equal quantity of 
meat, when fattened and killed at from 18 
months to two years old, as would be formed 
were the same amount of food given to the 
Essex breed, killed at from 9 to 12 months old, 
or the Berkshire at from 12 to 15 months old, at 
which ages it will be found most profitable to 
kill these respective breeds. 
With regard to fresh pork, it is brought in 
two different forms to market; in the first stage, 
in what may be termed “ porklings,” the carcass 
weighing from 40 to 80 lbs. each ; in this state, 
the carcass is jointed into hams, hands, spare 
ribs, loins, and belly pieces. The spare ribs 
and loins are always used as roasting pieces, 
the hams indiscriminately for roasting and 
pickling. The hands and belly pieces are al¬ 
ways pickled; for this purpose, no breed an¬ 
swers so well as the Essex. In this state, the out¬ 
side fat and skin, or “ crackling,” as it is called, 
is cut along with the lean part, and so served at 
table. 
The other form in which fresh pork is sold, 
is when the pig has arrived at a pretty mature 
state and fit to make bacon. The only parts, I 
however, sold as fresh meat, are the spare rib j 
and loin, together with steak pieces off the 
shoulder. Along with the loin and spare rib, 
some persons cut out the whole of the ribs, but 
this is a bad practice, as the short ribs greatly 
assist in curing the bacon, and should always 
be left on the side. The ribs should be divided 
with a saw midway between the breast and 
back bone; a sharp knife should now be em¬ 
ployed to cut out the lean or muscular part of 
the neck and loins from its exterior covering of 
fat, the cutter up having previously divided with 
a saw, the large bone and the pelvis, commonly 
known as the haunch, or aitch bone. He com¬ 
mences cutting at the neck, and makes a clean 
cut down to the ham, leaving only a thin por¬ 
tion of the muscle, or lean part, about the thick¬ 
ness of a shilling, attached to the fat or back 
part, as many more cuts are made in the same 
direction as are required to separate the joint 
up to the point where the ribs had previously 
been divided by the saw. Steak pieces for fry¬ 
ing or making sausages and pies, may be now 
cut off the lean part of the hand, which permits 
the shoulder bone being easily separated. The 
fore shank may either be cut out or left in ; if 
for home use, it had better be cut out and used 
as pickled pork. The ham can now be cut off, 
commencing where the ham joins the flank, and 
cutting so that the outside skin will form a cir¬ 
cle or ellipsis with the skin that lines the inside 
of the ham. This mode of cutting up pigs is 
not much practised for home curing, and for 
that purpose is without doubt the most profita¬ 
ble. 
A plan is followed in the west of England 
and south of Ireland, in such places as Water¬ 
ford, Cork, Carrick, &c., in all which places it 
is the practice to singe the pigs intended for 
bacon. I have not described the mode of kill¬ 
ing and scalding pigs, as that is generally well 
understood, and a professed butcher is usually 
employed for the purpose; singeing is, however, 
not so generally known. The pigs being first 
knocked on the head, generally five or six in 
number, are instantly drawn to a place imme¬ 
diately contiguous, and placed with their necks 
over a trough prepared to receive the blood ; 
they are then stuck in the neck with a knife in 
the ordinary manner; whilst they are bleeding, 
a man with a fork distributes a thin covering of 
wheat or rye straw; the stronger the straw the 
better for that purpose. In the absence of 
wheat or rye straw, furze and heather are used 
as substitutes. The straw is now set fire to in 
the direction of the wind; if the man sees that 
there is not enough, he applies more to those 
parts requiring it, but in a general way, with 
practice, the quantity required is applied suffi¬ 
ciently at first, the tender having merely to ad¬ 
just the burning straw, taking from those parts 
where it appears to be scorching the skin too 
much, and putting it on those places where the 
fire appears too little; this he does by using a 
common hay fork. When burned out, which 
