THE BACON TRADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22546, 13 April 1935, Page 3

THE BACON TRADE

WHAT THE FACTORIES WANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN DENMARK IMPORTANT BRITISH CONFERENCE. With a Pig Marketing Board and protection for the British farmer, the necessity arises to put the bacon trade on a sound footing (says our London correspondent, writing on March 8). Hitherto, producers in the United Kingdom have more or less gone as they pleased. An important step towards co-operation and standardisation was taken this week, when a conference on " The Production of Pigs for Bacon" was held at Ilarpenden. The meeting was to have been held in the lecture room of Rothamstcd Experimental Station, but the attendance was so large that at the last moment the Town Hall had to be taken. Mr John A. Fox (chairman of the Pig Marketing Board) presided, and four experts read papers on various aspects of the trade. Subsequent discussion showed that experts differ in many respects, but the pooling of experience in this way should lead to a greater measure of standardisation and co-operation. The first speaker was Mr J. B. Busby (Herts, and Beds. Co-operative Bacon Factory. Hitchin). As a practical curer he spoke on the subject "What the Bacon Factory Wants, and How the Danes Secured It." Mr Busby summarised those requirements under the following heads: — 1. A continuance of pigs week in week out, not a spasmodic and fluctuating one. A factory cannot possibly be succesful unless its output is nearly 10 per cent, and steady, and it must receive—

2. A good length of pig of as early maturity as possible taking all circumstances into account. 3. The pig produced on No. 2 lines must have a proper and definite amount of lean meat, and in proportion the requisite amount of fat, whether it be on back or belly. 4. Must kill out at a weight which is as near uniform as possible governed by point 2, and must show a far greater uniformity than at present is being produced. 5. Pay definite attention to shoulder and depth of belly, which are points to which naturally the grocers attach great importance. 6. Pay strict attention to feeding, i.e., the feeding of a balanced ration and the rationing of such feeds. Especially is this necessary if note is taken of point No. 3. 7. Pay greater attention to cleanliness. 8. Far greater attention to and education on feeding and selecting of breeding stock: the only method by which results can be obtained is by the recording of all breeding stock governed by a recognised authority. DANISH PUREBRED PIGS. The Danes, said the speaker, in the early stages had to face these problems, and they controlled every pig when it came to bacon weight. The centralisation of pig slaughter houses in this country was a step in the right direction. The Danes secured what they term their purebred bacon pigs first by selecting their own crossbred sows, called the landraee. which he felt sure had a touch of the Swedish, and was a fair length with shorter legs than our large white, more after the Wessex or Essex saddleback in length and type. These they crossed with selected Yorkshire large white from England. Then they selected the best type of bacon pig out of their own for their boars, only coming back to the Yorkshire white when needinjr fresh blood. "They seem," said Mr Busby, "to select the largest and longest pig for bonis which show a little shoulder, but which, in my opinion, is counteracted by length; and getting the maturiii" stage for killing to five months. "Definite educational arrangements are made in Denmark for the correct feeding of proteins to sows, pigs when suckling, and weaners. and (so far as is practically possible) weaners never lose their baby flesh, and once they get started a proper growth and lean meat and muscle

development must come. You must lay the foundation of a lean carca&se. So many people come all to pieces here. Danes pay strict attention to rationing a known feed with the highest possible amount of proteins, such as meat with blood meals. " They realised that the greatest uniformity can be obtained by early maturity and slaughter pigs before rather than after the normal change takes place for reproduction, and thus they made a definitely low live weight of 2001 b starved. CLEANLINESS. "The Daneg pay far greater attention to cleanliness than is generally understood here. Cleanliness of stys, fall in floor towards draining part of pen, dryness of stys, eliminating draughts, and clean feeding utensils and troughs are ensured. Strict attention is given to the construction of floors in order to avoid damp striking through. " Every boy who desired to go on a farm must go through the agriculture schools. He cannot obtain any responsible position without a school diploma." As- for rations, the Danes' advantage is the plentiful supply of skimmed milk. Apart from milk, the rations appeared to be 30 per cent, wheat, 30 per cent, rye, 30 per cent, barley, and 10 per cent, meat blood, and bone meal. They feed three times a day, and if the meal i s not finished in from 20 to 25 minutes it is taken away. "I think the time must come," said Mr Busby, " for all pigs in this country to go through certain centres agreed upon, and those unsuitable for bacon, as in Denmark, sent forward on to the fresh meat markets, so as to get a better proportion of suitable pigs made into bacon.

Churned and delivered daily. " Hnia " Butter has a creamy flavour all its own. 13.3.5. A group of Africa, Chile, youths believe that they have found the entrance to the secret tunnel which legend says the Incas used for communication with Cuzco, City of the Sun, capital of the ancient empire. If it exists, such a tunnel would be 350 miles long, rising from sea level more than 12,000 feet to the plateau on which Cuzco lies. A similar tunnel is supposed to have existed from Lima into the mountains. The youths started to explore an Inca cave on the slopes of Morro Hill. Supplied with a cord and flashlights, the young men went a mile into the heart of the mountain, finding peaks and ravines. Finally they reached a spot hardly big enough for a man to go through. Exhausted and at the end of their line, they returned to plan a fresh exploration.