Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-02-03
Pork as an Article OF Food.

II we examine the case from an impair
| tial and unbiased standpoint, and diyest
| all that has been said against pork and
porkers from everything that is imaginary
| or not true, and take the fanaticism, the
| idiosyncrasies, and the ignorance OF those
| lecturers and writers Tor simply that
which they deserve, We shall find, first,
taat pork Is not contemplate, useless,
unwholesome and unsubstantial article OF
! food and a man who has To do hard
| days work, and has 10 eat his bread in the
| sweat OF his face, does by no means despise
| IL, but prefers il very often 10 the choicest
| beef or mutton. This is but natural, for
pork furnishes more almost than anything
| else, not only of the elements required 10
support the respiratory process, but also
those which are principally needed by the
organism OF laboring man TO repair the
continual organic waste of material, as
modified and increased by hard labor Ii
is true, pork Can be too lat, or too badly
| served or prepared by the cook 10 be tasty,
even 10 the palate OF workipgman; but
| so can beef and mutton, and everything
else, as can be found out very easily in
certain boarding houses. Neither Is pork
| so very unsu bstantial All article of food AS
some OF those writers and lecturers are
ANTIQUE To make us believe. While the
body of almost every other domesti-
Gated mammal contains between 66 and
rs per cent. of water, the body OF
fat pig contained, according TO analy-
sis made in the royal Agricultural Col.
lege at Eldena, In Prussia, only A. per
cent, and the remainder, the water-free
substance, contained 90 per cent. Of pro-
tein substances, 77.1 per cent. OF fat, and
per cent. OF mineral substances. Ii is
true that pork Is not SO rich in nitrogen
as beef, for instance, but 1t Is not nitrogen
alone that il required for food.
Pork, OF course, is not always OF the
same quality. It's firmness or softness,
and oiliness, respectively depend, first,
upon the breed OF the animal, and second
ly, upon the kind Of food with which the
same has been fattened. As general
rule the small breeds of hogs, but es-
pecially the small Chinese and East India
pigs and the pigs OF Naples and their de-
scendanis, have n much softer pork than
the larger breeds Of England and Of Cen
trail Europe and their descendants. The
so.called improved breeds produce firm
pork containing good deal OF muscle.
The food also causes considerable diiier
ence in the quality Of the pork. Barley
produces the hrmest and most solid pork
and oats produce the softest-even softer
and more oily than that produced by
feeding corn. The fat OF hogs rattened
with barley becomes Huid at 1858 deg. r.,
aud the fat OF hogs fattened with oats Ut
l04 A deg. +. The former, when fluid,
stifiens in one hour ut temperature OF
80 g deg. f., and the latter In six hours at
a temperature OF 1872 deg. +. Conse.
quenlly, one who prefers very solid pork
must choose pig Of large breed and
must iatten il with barley, and one who
desires his pork soft may select small
breed and fatten the same with corn or
with oats.
II may be well TO remark here that the
feeding OF much salt tchloride Of sodium)
is injurious 70 pigs, and interferes with
their growth and with the process OF fat
tenfng. Investigating further we shall
find, secondly, that pigs are much better
than their reputation, and have done, and
are doing, much more for mankind than
mankind has done or is doing for them.
First, there Is no demonstrated animal that
Is, as a general rule. so much neglected
by It's owner and left 10 IT'S resources before
il is fattened for the shambles as pig,
and still there il no other animal that con-
verts its food SO soon into food for human
beings. Secondly, pig IL an omnivorous
animal that y, can live and thrive on
both animal and vegetable substances; ID
not very particular and consumes with the
same relish almost any ofal from the Ia
bic, from the dairy, and from the kitchen