The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-12-11
THE FARM AND HOME.
A HINT CONCERNING THE
EUROPEAN MARKET.
Tho Best Breed for Choice Bacon
Young Beef for Proft-Scab on
Fruit Trees-Earm Notes
and Com estic Dots.
The Best Breed for Choice Bacon

An0 60St creed for Choice Bacon.
believe much greater quantity of
bacon is consumed in Great Britain
and Ireland, and perhaps also on the
Continent than of fat side pork. both
fresh and sailed. 1t is quite impor-
tant therefore to the American farmer
who wishes to export, writes A. B.
Allen in the Country Gentleman to
grow that breed OF swine which shall
produce the most desirable quality OF
flesh for smoking. A hog for this
purpose must abound in tender lean,
juicy meat rather than fat as the lat
ter quality is entirely unsuitable for
bacon and fit only for sailing to pack
in barrels for commercial dealing.
The shape OF such swine should be
rather long than short in body, full on
the back OF extra depth, wide shout
ders and broad thick hams. head and
neck of moderate length and fine,
legs the same, active in movement.
and completely free from all sluggish
ness.
Swine destined for bacon ought to
have moderate exercise in the open
air. In summer a grass or clover pas
ture with pure water running in it is
preferable; in winter dry yard with
warm, room. well bedded pens at
tached for shelter whenever desired by,
the animal to resort to them.
For feed, aside from pasture give
wheat bran or shorts, or oat or barley
meal, as required. mixed with pint
to quart of faxseed or cottonseed
meal according to the size of the ami
NAL, morning and night Early in
autumn add sugar beets or other roots,
or pumpkins, as much as will be eaten;
and three to four weeks before slaugh-
ter, give Indian corn CT meal, from
one-third to one-half the proportion of
their other food. More of this grain
should not be used, as it would tend
to make the flesh too fat.
The late opening of European mar
kets for our hog products will require
an immense additional quantity of
live and dead meat to supply them-a
rich boon to our farmers, of which
they should make haste to take advan-
tage Swine of medium size are do
cidedly preferable, and cheapest and
quickest to breed and rear These
may be grown suitable for market in
nine to twelve months time from
birth. This is SO much faster than
rearing cattle that it enables small
farmers and those possessing little
capital to go into the business as we'll
and as proftably as those of much
larger means; in fact gives the poor
man as good a chance to gain fair
percentage IN his occupation as the
rich.
In regard to the best breed of swine
which is possessed in America to pro-
duce choice bacon and hams, the
Berkshire is superior, as he turns out
the largest percentage of tender. lean,
juicy meat. His nearly equal. per-
haps, is the Duroc or Jersey Red, or
what is called the Tamworth in Eng
land. This is supposed to be descended
from the old unimproved Berkshires
of the present day, for some of them
are nearly spoiled by breeders in the
quality of their shoulders. hams and
side-pieces. They have shortened the
head, length and depth of the body
given them a pug-nose and fat jowls
like the Chinese. and fed them almost
entirely on corn. The result is that
the largest percentage of the flesh is
fat instead of tender lean juicy meat,
totally unfit for bacon. All such breed
ing should be stopped at once. not
only In Berkshires, but other classes
of swine that are reared expecting to
make bacon of them.
Most of the portraits Of swine ap-
pearing in our agricultural papers are
of this very fat shape-mere carica-
lures of what a good bacon animal
should be, and the additional misfor-
tune is added at the shows of agricul-
tural societies in appointing judges
who know nothing Of the desirable
points necessary to form suitable bacon
animals, and the result is prizes are
awarded to unsuitable animals ito
the injury of breeding good ones that
will sell more quickly a. higher
price.
Money in sheep.
Sheep may come little nearer re-
turning something for nothing than
can be had from some other invest
ments. but the man who puts his
money into flock, of whatever size
or breed of sheep. and afterwards
omits to accord all the essentials to
thrift and improvement is only sur
prising himself and need look for no
other results than disappointed hopes
and depleted pocket-bo On the
other hand, the farmer who secures
the proper type OF sheep and accords
to these plenty of feed and such
security from exposures as humanity
and economy may dictate will find
himself rewarded by returns certain to
lose nothing in comparison with the
best that comes to him through any
other source.
Young Beef for Profit.
The progress of ideas as connec ted
with farm practices is far more rapid
than farmers get credit for as the
work goes along. saws the Texas Live