The Tupelo journal., 1904-08-19
FARMERAND PLANTER.
BACON AND FAT HOGS,
The Markets Are Demanding High
err Quality ia Meats--How
to Meet 1t.

to Meet 1t.
The home and foreign markets are
both demanding higher quality in
meats. This particular feature in meat
production has not been given a great
amount of study, though the questions
OF crop production and economic feed
ing have been quite exhaustively stud
led in every state of the union. Inc
prime object of the meat producer In
the past has been to get the greatest
possible increase in live weight in the
~fattening animal at the lowest cost,
and this great weight has frequently
consisted of disproportionate amounts
OF fat in the case of the finished AMI
NAL. The trade of the past stimulated
this fat production by placing a pre-
MUM on animals that would dress out
the greatest per cent. of carcass, and
this was accomplished in the highest
degree by the excessively fat ones. To-
day there seems to be two extremes in
the condition of market animals, on
the one hand too much weight and fat,
and|on the other not enough; 1t is not
an easy matter to produce thick
f1eshed animals with a suitable proper
ton OF fat properly distributed.
The demands of the onsumer are
changing. The invention of labor-sav-
ing machinery has greatly modified the
demands upon the muscular energies or
those engaged in many pursuits. The
taste of the consume" in general is in
clining more and more toward the
consumption of flesh and less
lard and tallow. Vegetable and miner
al oils are, to a large extent, super
seding the animal oils for purposes Of
Summation, fabrication, and to some
extent for domestic purposes.
The producer must adopt methods OF
breeding, feeding and management
whereby thick-fleshed rather than
over-fat carcasses will be produced.
The markets have begun to discrim-
mate against too much fat. They re-
alize the difficulty of inducing he pro-
Queer to deviate from l~ong-practlced
methods, and have adopted as a meth
cd of securing better quality of meats,
determinations against heavy, over-fat
beeves and tallowy lambs and mutton.
The market puts a premium on light
and intermediate weights, which means
that the producer must market his ami
mails at an earlier age; at a time when
the proportion of fat and lean is mar
rover than in the heavily-fattened ma
,ture animal. The numerous large pack
ing plants of the country AVE ex-
pressed their d~isapproval of the excess
of tallow on beeves by refraining from
bidding on heavily-fattened show ami
mails.
The present situation would seem to
indicate that a virorouS campaign OF
investigation and education along
these lines must be speedily and uni
versally adopted. We say investiga-
ton, because the production of thick
f1eshed carcasses in a large measure in
wolves the problems in breeding which
lead us to the gateway of a field as yet
little explored.
A grave question confronting the
meat producer is, how is he going to
know when he has produced this de-
sired quality? He breeds, feeds and
markets his animals, but rarely ever
does he see their carcases after they
have been dressed. The block tests
in~augurated by the International Live
Stock exposition have demonstrated
that even expert judges have not al
ways been able to select from among
the living animals those which would
produce the best carcasses. These tests
have decided against the n time
winning hulks of tallow. And yet,
notwithstanding the useful and prac-
teal nature Of these educational fea-
lures presented by the international,
It is astonishing how few profit by
them or even cast more b a pass
ing glance. In agricultural educational
institutions the practice of the past
has largely consisted in demonstrations
as to form, estimates as to quality and
certain judging exercised. We have
been content with attempting to dem
onstrate to our classes that because
certain animals possess certain feat
ures of form and handling qualities,
they will likely be possessed of a GER
tain quality of carcass, and demonStra-
tdons or inaccuracy of the conclusions.
1t is true that a few institutions have
presented slaughter demonstrations to
their classes, the members of which
have been on-lookers, but this can not
elpplant the instruction given during
several weeks of actual laboratory
work requiring the use Of the knife,
cleaver, saw and scales in the hands of
the students.-Prof. Shaw, in Kentucky
Farmer and Breeder.