THE QUALITY OF BACON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18533, 18 October 1923, Page 14

THE QUALITY OF BACON.

PROPERLY DESIGNED RATIONS

In the British Journal of Agriculture E. T.- Haln.an, M.A., wrote an article on the effect of feeding staff oh thequality of bacon. It was pointed out that poor quality bacon is often caused by the use r of" unsuitable mixtures of feeding stuffs, particularly towards the end of the .'/fattening period. -;; Continuing, the writer explains that, apart from i,the use of unsuitable mixtures of feeding stuffs, -it is i possible to produce -the wrong "type of ■ carcase from f a * pig, although from-the breeding standpoint, the animal has all the points necessary for the formation of ideal bacon, and even though ? suitable feeding stuffs are used. The ideal side, from ". the bacon curer's standpoint, is one weighing 50-601b. when finished, with a good ham, thick streaking 'and good loin, the middle :' weighing a. few more pounds than the ends. Above all, the proportion of lean to fat must be high, and the back fat should never be more than l£in. in thickness. A bacon -pig of the right type, and weighing 2001b. live weight, should kill ou& at 1601b. dressed weight at about 5-6 months old. Whether the pig kills out at the right proportion '•', of lean to fat depends largely upon the" judgement of the , feeder in maintaining the right proportion between the albuminoids and non-albuminoids throughout the growing and fattening period. ■■£• In fattening the pig, the pig feeder dealing with an animal in an actively growing state and it is, therefore /necessary to provide adequately for "the growth of the animal as well as for fattening. This is a very important point, and an error in feeding during the early stages of fattening is not easily put right later. If pigs receive insufficient protein (albuminoids} during the early stages they will kill out unduly fat at 2001b. live weight. In the early stages of the pig's.life, the nutritive ratio of the. ration should-bo .as narrow as 1 to 3 or 4, widening out in the- latter stage of fattening to 1 to 5 or 6. Adherence to these ratios will produce the right type of carcase, provided, of course, that a good type of bacon pig is used. ' . • . ,:

From a practical standpoint, the pig feeder will need to take care that sufficient food rich in protein is included in the mixtures fed. The home-grown feeding stuffs, wheat, oats, barley and rve > an have too wide a nutritive ratio and need to be used in conjunction with a feeding stuff rich in protein, such as peas, whey, meat meai, dried blood, etc.