Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-12-17
Wholesome Pork.

/
THE truth of the curt adage, "the
devil is in pork" must be quite gener-
ally conceded if its manifestations in n
long list of cutaneous, febrous and
bilious disorders be taken for a sufficient
personifcation of his satanic majesty.
But as a temperate eater of the flesh of
| properly-grown, home-raised hogs, the
writer protests that such is not necessa-
riy the case, and that pork might take
as high rank in point of healthfulness
in comparison with other meats as it
holds in palatability. The deleterious
consequences attendant on its use are
clearly traceable to the abuse of man
and to no fault of the creature. The
simple fact is, swine have for untold
generations generally been confined
and fattened in close styes reekino with
hlth, and fed on a confused mess of de-
composing stuff a part of which has,
perhaps, been fermenting in the swill
barrel for days or even weeks. II is
only necessary to mention as coordinate
with this treatment, that wholesale
process by which hOgsare furnished to
the market from distilleries.
If there is any relation between cause
and effect, how can it be expected that
pork produced under such noxious con-
ditions can be healthful foodP 1t is
a significant fact that these conditions
are so notoriously bad that municipal
authority usually prohibits or regulates
the keeping of swine within city lin
its. Even the constitutions of the hogs
themselves have waned under this long
continued abuse, as trichina, cholera,
kidney and other diseases prevalent
among them attest. 1t is safe to affirm
that the livers of q large majority of
hogs are pitted and mottled with putri-
flying ulcers; yet from its very fire.
quency, few think of pronouncing the
hog unsound simply because it has a
diseased liver. Another potent fact in
bringing pork into disrepute as an ar
ticle Of general consumption is found
in the ill-devised system of breeding
pigs with view of producing a carcass
of thick-sided, clear fat. As a result
the long, deep-bodied, sweet-meated
swine of twenty-five years ago with
their alternate streaks of fat and lean,
are rarely to be found. So universal
has this system of breeding become,
that a strong protest from the pork
NACeNANAo Va A4L2Adhu has DtCu Ildut,
stating in substance, that the hogs of
yore must be bred again, or the extern
sive trade in bacon in that country must
cease.
The simple remedy for the evils COM
planned of is of course found in revers-
ing the conditions. Homeopathy, how
ever good in other places, will not work
a cure here. l have been long con-
vinced that persons of enterprise who
the subject would find it
both lucrative and sanitary move to
grow hogs according to all the hygienic
conditions requisite to make the pro-
duct healthful and relishable. Their
market would at first be sought at the
tables of select consumers who would
be as able and willing to pay an ad
price for what might be termed
fancy pork, as for fancy butter. 1t is
probably too much to expect to success
fully oppose the greed of hog raisers,
with a mere appeal to the laws of health.
But independently of this, if intelligent |
would demand, and persist !
in demanding, better article, they
would get it, through notions of policy |
If not of philanthropy; and certainly |
the great farming communities of the |
West and South, on whose tables pork |
is served one to three times day, can
be taught, in their own behalf at least, |
TO raise swine of the proper stock, in
fields and cleanly kept comfortable
pens, witch suitable food and drink, and |
not be satisfied with doing things no
better than their fathers did. 4 ten
1ency in this direction would do much
in exercising the devil from the pork of
our day and indirectly from the human
system. NJ Y. Tribune.