The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1909-01-27
HOQ.KiLLlNG ON THE FARM.
How One Farmer Manages This I'm.
portant Work.

The time Is here when farmers kill
the hogs to make the pork for their
own family use; and although most,
farmers are butchers, and each has his
own way of doing things which he con-
siders good enough, they may like to-
hear how brother farmer does his
butchering, and his reasons for his
methods. Some people do not feed.
their hogs the evening before killing,
thinking the feed is wasted, and that.
the entrails are more likely to get rup-
tured when too full. l feed our hogs.
the night before killing. They are huns
cry as usual expect the feed, enjoy it,
and it seems cruel not to give them
their last supper. There is not much:
waste If the entrails are emptied,
where the chickens can get at them.
Some men knock their hogs down.
with a club before sticking, others
think it more humane to shoot them
with a rifle before they are stuck. y
have some doubts whether hogs will
bleed out completely when knocked on
the head or shot before sticking, con-
lAAuVo tAAo wanna "AALOA AA SAANi
Country Gentleman. Others throw a
box over the hog, then tip the box
over with the hog in it lying on his
back, his legs up. We catch our hogs.
in the pen, put a rope around one
hind leg and drive them to the place,
of slaughter. I put the rope on the leg
because, as I have fed them and
11ooy0d ho hn1 C,,cv,i-
cious of me as they are of strangers,
and I can rope them quicker than q
stranger from whom they are sure
to run.
When arrived at the sticking ground
the hog is thrown down and rolled
square on his back; the knife is insert
ed just forward of the breast bone
and close to it, then thrust back in the
direction of the tail. This is sure to
sever the big arteries in the neck and
insure "good stick" which causes
the hog to bleed out more quickly and
thoroughly, and the pork will keep
better. In sticking hog lying on his
side, the sticker is quite likely to
thrust the knife under the shoulder
blade and cause the blood to settle
there, to the injury of one shoulder. A
hog will bleed out cleaner if the head
is kept on lower ground than the tail.
In the great slaughter houses in Chi
cago, the hogs are never stuck until
after being hung up by one hind leg
on an iron rod overhead. After being
stuck, they go slowly sliding down the
rod to the place where they are low
cred into the scalding tank.
Farmers hog killing is not generally
done until cold weather comes, and
sometimes not after Christmas, and
in this locality is mostly done out of
doors. 1t frequently happens that the
day appointed it cold and windy, and
sometimes showing, but the prepara-
lions being all made and the help on
hand, the farmer resolves to go through
with it. He does so, and sometimes
catches horrible cold, as have done
more than once on butchering day. J
am of the opinion that on every farm
where several hogs are to be killed ev-
cry year, there should be a cheap
house built on purpose for butchering
and boiling potatoes and pumpkins for
hogs, and it could also be used as a
washhouse for washing clothes. 1t
should stand as near the water supply
as possible, as large quantity of wa
ter is necessary in butchering.
My father built such a house, in
which our hogs were scalded, dressed,
hung up and Quilted without discom-
fort even on very cold day. At one
end there was chimney, with a large
fireplace and crane, on which two big
kettles were hung for heating water.
One end of big scalding barrel was
put down through hole in the floor
placed at an angle of about As de-
grees to make it easier to put the hogs
in, surge them, and pull them out.
For large, heavy hogs there was a
rope and pulley blocks attached to q
rafter overhead by means of which
they were easily handled and the pull
leys were also used to hang the hogs
up. Small hogs were quicker handled
without the use of the pulleys. The
hogs were hung up to joists overhead,
where they were rinsed down, scraped
and Quilted.
The most important thing about
butchering (as every farmer knows)
is to get good scald, so that the hair
can be easily and quickly removed by
the scrapers. 1t is better to have the
water too cold than too hot, for the
"cold scald" can be remedied by an
application of hotter water; but a.
scald with the water too hot "sets"
the hair so that the skin, being cooked,
will scrape off with the hair, making
1t necessary to shave off the hair with
sharp knife, doing a poor job and
requiring much time. Some butchers
think they can tell the proper temper
allure of the water by putting their
hands in it, which is rather doubtful.
The exact temperature can be secured
every time by the use of thermom-
eter For large 300-pound hogs 40
degrees is about right. For small hogs
and pigs the water should not be