The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-11-05
WANTED-A NEW MEAT.
Swans and Peacocks Are Worth Raising, but
Some Wild animals May Be Better.
from the Spectator.


which, whether flesh or fowl, must al
ways form the groundwork, and basis
of an English bill Of fare is a want
keenlv felt, but most difficult to reme-
dy. Among the thousands of tons OF
foreign game imported yearly, there IS
hardly beast or bird which may not
be had in better quality and condition
at home, except the prairie bird and the
quail; for those canvass-backed ducks
which escape the keen search of the
New York dealers and find their way
across the Atlantic alight only on the
tables of City companies and million
aires, like the caladrus of old, that ap-
peared only at the deaths of kings. Yet
there are probably twenty people in
this country who have eaten canvas
backed duck for one who has ever
tasted swan, or rather cygnet, the finest
water fowl for the table, alike IL size
and flavor, a bird easy to rear, most
prolific, rivalling even the breast the
teal, without the fatal drawback OF that
excellent little bird, that no one has
ever been able to get enough oft. Even
now, though so neglected by the world,
swans may be had from the Norwich
Swan Pit for e2 each. They weigh
some sixteen pounds, and with them Is
forwarded an ancient recipe for cooking
them, 'done into rhyme by person of
quality"
Another ''fowl': which was once re-
served for the tables of kings, and is
now hardly thought good enough for
Aldermen, is the peacock. What roast
swan is to roast goose, such is roast
peacock to roast turkey. Many owners
of county houses who keep peacock'
and let them run wild and nest in their
woods and shrubberies, take little trou-
BILE either to fatten or cook the pea
chicks. If they did, they would per-
haps take more pains to rear these birds
for the table. The meat is very white
and of exceedingly fine and close grain,
and has the true game flavor, with none
of the stringiness of the common tur-
key.
But flesh, and not fowl, is what is
e mainly desired to widen the possibili-
ties of the dinner table. Fatted swans
or peacocks or American turkeys might
be increased and multiplied without
afording more than an occasional re-
lief to the monotony of the menu and
the brain-searching of houskeepers.
What is wanted is some new and large
animal, whose flesh has a character OF
its own which would readily distin-
guish it from beef or mutton, and an
excellence which shall make it lnde-
pendent of any special treatment in
cooking-something which shall COM
bine the game flavor with the substan-'
tail soidity of leg Of mutton. An |
increase in the quantity Of; venison
reared in this country naturally sug-
gests itself. Itis objected that deer can
never pay to fat for food, because the
annual growth of their horns reduces
them so much ia condition as for a
time to- make the. yenison worthless.
Bussthis applies only to the bucks; stays |
mightbe kept like bullocks, and doe
venison might still be renuneratiUe.
Bnt swan, peacock, .andyenison are,
after all, only reviralssof the old bill OF I
fare. To find a new meat, we must
take stock of the worlds resources OF
animal food, and inquire, after due
survey, if there does not still exist
some neglected quadruped which will
furnish what we seek. Roughly speak
ing, our main supply Of animal food is
drawn either from the rodents, the
ruminants, or the pachyderms-repre-
sented by the rabbit, the OK or sheep,
and the pig. To vary the supply at
our disposal, we shall probably not be
able to go beyond these limits; for the
general experience of civilized man has
already pronounced judgment on the
question, and science supports the YER
dict. 1t is no good to eat wolf, for the
wolf has already got the benefit Of eat
ing the lamb, and left no surplus for
US. Of three great tribes, the rodents
may be dismissed from our search; for
those that are not already used as food
are either too small to be useful, as the
lemming or the guinea pig, or too re-
pulsive in appearance, like the capy-
bara, or in habits, like the rat. OF the
pachyderms We find only one which is
domesticated for food, the dear familiar
Berkshire or Yorkshire piggie. The
larger pachyderms are too pig; the
smaller, like the peccary, too savage;
the wart hog and other African varie-
ties, too repulsive. Clearly, then, We
must have recourse to the list of rumi-
nants if we are to find one to add to the
bill of fare.
At first the choice seems wide
enough. Itembraces all the deer tribe,
the wild sheep and antelopes, goats and |
ibexes, which are numerous; but all
have rank and disagreeable flavor,
which must prevent their coming into
the list Of first-class food. The posi-
bility of extending the supply of veni-
son we have already considered. The {
wild sheep would probably differ too
little in flavor from mutton to make it
worth while to domesticate them,
though those Of the Himalaya will
breed freely in confinement. The ante
lopes, therefore alone remain, and it is
among their number that the animal
wanted must be found, if It is to be
found at all.
If the accounts Of African hunters
are to be relied on, the venison obtained
from the 1arpar kinds of onte1oaa fon nd