The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1917-07-03

AS
| 2. Keep hogs off feed and with
plenty of accessible water for TWEEN
ty-four hours previous to killing.
3. Be sure the carcass is chilled
thoroughly or cooled out before the
meat is cut up to be put into cure.
A. Cut all pieces uniformly and
trim all ragged edges carefully. A
ham or piece of bacon which is at
tractively shaped is more salable than
one which is not.
Artificial Refrigeration.
Because of the climatic conditions
In the Southern states, particularly
the Gulf states, some form of re-
frlgeration will aid and safeguard
the curing process. This may be
supplied by private meat-curing
house on the farm or by a communi-
ty meat-curing house or by taking
the meat to local ice plant to be
cured.
/ In test conducted in a small
meat-curing house in southern Geor-
gla, it was estimated that the cost
| OF curing the meat was not more than
three-fourths of a cent pound, in
Guiding the cost of the ice. This
house, which is 9x9 feet in size, has
been found to be sufficiently large
for the average farmer. Meat hous-
es, varying in size from 6x8 feet to
as large as 16x30 feet, recently have
been built and successfully operated
by at least ten farmers in southern
Georgia, these houses will be built
IN the near future by farmers in
this section.
The curing and handling of pork
products opens an extensive field to
ice plants throughout the South. For
several years the managers of a few
plants have cured meat for farmers
at specified price per pound. A
more recent development of the bus
mess, however, has been the purchase
of dressed hogs from farmers by the
ice plant management. This plan was
inaugurated at Canton, Miss, during
the winter of 1913-14, where it since
has become an important feature of
the ice company's business.
Information obtained from the
managers of ice plants who have had
experience in curing meat for farm
ers indicates that the plan has been
profitable to the ice plant owners and
of considerable service to farmers in
the respective communities.
One ice company which cures
meat for farmers charges l cent per
pound for curing, cents for curing
and smoking, and 8 cents for curing,
smoking and wrapping. These charges
include all labor, salt and other ma
terial, and are based on green
weight of meat. The farmer delivers
the meat to the plant cut into desired
pieces for curing. The management
reports that approximately 80 tons
of meat were cured at this plant dur
ing the winter of 1913-14, SIS tons
during the winter of 1914-15, and
approximately 100 tons during 1915
16.
Plan Adopted in Georgia.
Fourteen plants in Georgia and one
in Mississippi are reported to be con-
| Quoting the business after this plan.
| While no figures are available to
show the actual cost of curing meats,
reports of managers who have con-
Quoted the business indicate that a
charge of l to cents a pound, de-
pending upon the amount of meat in
cure, will return a reasonable profit
to the plant at the same time be
fair to the farmer.
Where the owners of ice plants
make a business of buying the hogs
and selling the cured products,
dressed hogs are purchased from the
farmer. The meat is handled in about
the same way as at the smaller pack
ing plants, and the cured meat and
other products are sold locally. The
management of one ice plant which
has conducted this business for sew
eral seasons reports that the number
of hogs produced in the community
has been practically doubled during
this period. This increase is attrib-
uted largely to the market which the
ice plant has provided. The buying
records of this plant for the winter
| of 1914-15 show that the hogs deliv-
cred to the plant average three for
each patron. The facts show that
the local market for hogs thus pro-
vided by ice plants is of particular
value to the small farmer He re-
+ ceives more for his hogs than he 9TH
erwise would, a fair profit is made
at the ice plant, and a good home
product is offered the consumers at
! a reasonable price.
During the winter of 1914-15 the
practice of purchasing hogs from
farmers was taken up at three plants
in Arkansas, and, under the super
vision of representative Of the de-
partment of agriculture, it was ex-
tended in that state during the win
ter of 1915-16. AS a result of the
work in Arkansas, at least one ice
plant in Louisiana and two in Missis-
sippi are now buying dressed hogs
from the farmers.