The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-03-09
PIG.
We Consumed 5O,l45,oo0 Hogs in
1900.
PIG

1bUU.
Ii all the people of the world should
turn Jews or Mohammedans, something
would happen that would appall the
financial world and shake the founda
tons of governments. That would mean
total cessation OF the use of swine
meat for food, and great would be the
consequences thereof. Great holes would
be made in government receipts, i'm
mense lapses in export and import fig
ures, and fatal falling of in revenues
all along the line. Half our farmers
would be hankrupted or badly crippled,
Others would bc reduced 10 poverty,
mortgages would either increase or
stay putt and there would be dire dis
tress In millions of households The
whole mission in life Of the hog is TO
eat and be eaten, aud unless he eats and
is eaten, paradoxical as it may appear,
a good many people win have to quit
eating. just how these Old Testament
Jews got along without him and what
shift the hundreds Of millions OF Koran
believers make TO dispense with his SER
vices we do not know, but we are GER
tain that the rest of the human race
must have the hog Or suffer. The figures
prove it. OF course, the people eat q
great deal Of beef, veal and lamb, but
Mr.. Hog steps to the front with nearly
as many pounds Of himself consumed as
all of them put together. Note this;
the census OF 1900 gave the total ineat
animals slaughtered that year at o.
100000, and of all these 50,t45,000 con.
siderably more than half, were hogs.
There were 27,54s 900 sheep and 1s.s09, !.
600 cattle, figures almost insignificant
when put beside the offerings Of what
is regarded as the stupidest, as he GER
tainly is the dirtiest, OF four-footed ami.
mails. Putting il another way, we find
that every American family, on the av-
erage of 4.6 persons. calls for 4e5 pounds
Of pork, each is content with 43i pounds
Of beef, 40 pounds OF veal, 80 pounds
Of mutton and 81 pound Of lamb. From
this Il win be seen that the grunter
Is going some and in order to keep
up with the procession he has TO re-
produce more than whole new crop
for consumption each succeeding year
while all other qusdrupeds are content
with one.
The theme expands In proportions Al
we proceed. The meat, including lard
produced IN 1900 from swine, amounted
to a,279,9S3,000 pounds, OF more than a
half billion pounds over the s,771, 900
Of veal and beef, and over eight times the
| 1885, asa 900 pounds Of mutton and
lamb Right here ali idea may be given
OF what even a small rise ia so extern
siyely used a commodity az meat means
to the consumers. The average retail
price of all meats in 1900 was 1aA cents
per pound and 13% cents in 1906. On
this basis the American people paid
s167 $4,000 more in 1906 than was paid
in 1900 for the same quantity Of meat
A rise of what seems the insignificant
sum OF one.fourtt cent a pound means
on the basis of the consumption Of meat
in the one year Of 1900 the imposing
sum total OF s4t,ss3.00o. The truth i
that we not only need the hog meat We
have. but must have more ii consump.
ton is not 10 overtake and surpass the
supply. Prolific as they are, the hogs
cannot keep up with the American appe'
tite. The farmers and swine breeders
therefore must bestir themselves fol
more litters and bigger ones, or there
will be howl FROM the consumers and q
wall from the exchequers. Germany II
already suffering for American hog, ow,
ing 10 tho prohibitive prices forced BY
their exclusion law France is getting
hunqrier every day for more ham and
breakfast bacon and other countries are
10 be heard from. Meantime the robust
appetites of our own millions of con
snmers seem to get be getting more anC
more robust every day and there Is al
urgent call for more pork. Should chol
era OF some other calamity sweep away
the entire swine crop Of such state
as Iowa or Illinois for a single year
that loss would necessitate the stoppini
Of exports for year or reduction O
nome consumption one-ffth From al
this we may gather what II would NEAR
! to America To eliminate the hog entire
lly. She would be pinched for meat, il
4 truly pitiable condition, indeed, as 4
shut oil pork would be harder for thu
average American than II Is for an olC
toner 70 reform on the first day of Jan
uary or an inyeterate smoker to LAY
down his pipe. But II the consumer
would be grim. how about the produc
ersg There would he gloom in every
farm household, everybody grieying in
consolably over the disappearance Of thl
hog, weeping like Rachel for her chill
lren and refusing TO be eonsoIed becausi
they are not. So we can all join il
prayer: take whatever else thou wilt
ID kindliest Of Providence, but spare u
our ham and orr bacon. American
! Farmer