after the refrigerators. This is a matter which necessarily needs
constant attention and care. When the cooler is filled with warm meat
and the doors are shut it is his duty to increase the refrigeration and
see that the meat is brought down to the required temperature in the
required time. It is apparent that the refrigerators should receive
careful consideration, and be in charge of a man of reliability.

Beef should be placed in the cooler immediately after it is killed and
never allowed to hang outside any longer than necessary. While it may
take a little more refrigeration to handle it this way than to have it
partially chilled by the outside air, the general appearance of the
beef will more than repay for the additional cost of refrigeration.

=Mutton and Veal.=--Mutton and veal follow the same general rule as
beef as to handling. Beef offal of every character should be handled
under conditions described for export beef. In the handling of any warm
product it should all be spaced so as to provide for ample circulation.

=Chilling Hogs.=--During a summer season and where hogs may have been
hung out for say two hours to air dry, the chill rooms should be
reduced to a temperature of 30° F. at the time the hogs are put in and
sufficient refrigeration applied in to prevent the maximum temperature
exceeding 38° F. It should then be forced sufficiently to again reduce
the temperature of the chill rooms to 32° F. within twelve hours after
killing, maintained thus for twenty-four hours additional, then reduced
to 28° F. and maintained at this temperature until hogs are cut out;
forty-eight to seventy-two hours after slaughtering.

[Illustration: FIG. 21.--VIEW IN HOG CHILLING ROOM OF A LARGE PACKING
HOUSE IN CHICAGO.]

The chilling of hogs is handled in a measure the same as cattle, except
that the hog is a much more difficult animal to chill owing to the
character of the animal. The chilling is of such vital importance that
most successful meat curers have a set schedule for operation.

It is better to segregate the day’s killing in sections of coolers
sixteen to thirty-two feet wide; to insulate each cooler section from
the adjacent one; to make a filling limit of 40° F. and to require
sufficient refrigeration capacity and facility to reduce the chamber to
32° F. the morning after killing; and to maintain these temperatures
until cutting, about forty-eight hours after killing.

=Cellars.=--Dry salt cellars should be carried at a temperature of 38°
F.; sweet pickle meat cellars at 35° F., and for almost any kind of
curing. Cellars are occasionally reduced to 32° F. to suspend rapidity
of cure. Dry packed meats carry safely for ninety days in 20° F., and
for longer holding should be reduced to 12° F.

=Freezing Meat.=--The freezing of pork, which has become so important
during the last decade, seems to produce the best results when
performed at low temperatures. Many firms maintain freezers at a
temperature of from 15° to 10° below 0° F. Some insist upon storage
of meats under conditions of 0° F. to 5° F. Unquestionably the prompt
freezing of the product is a benefit, but the storage in these
excessively low temperatures would seem questionable since there is a
very marked “drying” tendency in low temperature rooms owing to the
very low percentage of moisture the air will contain.

It is the practice among some to coat the edges of piles of pork, or
the individual pieces, with water after the style of dipping fish in
fish-freezing. For all practical purposes, however, it would appear
as well to store the meat in rooms at 7° to 13° F., with 10° as a
standard. Canvas covering to prevent air circulation is a benefit.

CHAPTER VIII

WAREHOUSES.

  WAREHOUSE DESIGN -- FLOOR AREA -- FIRE PROOF BUILDINGS -- FLOOR
  CONSTRUCTION -- COOLERS -- FAN AND VENTILATION -- SPRAY SYSTEM --
  GALVANIZED SHEET IRON PIPES -- COIL ROOMS -- QUANTITY OF PIPE --
  METHOD OF ERECTING -- LIFE OF PIPE -- CELLAR CEILING SUSPENSION --
  RATIO OF PIPING -- DEFROSTING -- GARDNER CURTAIN SYSTEM -- DIRECT
  EXPANSION PIPING -- CHILL-ROOM BUNKERS -- LOW TEMPERATURE BRINE
  SYSTEM -- FREEZER AND STORAGE BUILDINGS.

=Warehouse Design.=--Under this heading we will discuss the standard
pork building for curing meats and for chilling hogs.

=Floor Area.=--The warehouse building as usually laid out should
provide 10,000 square feet on each floor, and as many stories in height
as needed and as many units as needed. It is common and usually best
to set posts sixteen feet centers in each direction, making sections
sixteen feet square. This area seems to lend itself best to practical
usage in packing house work.

=Fire-Proof Buildings.=--The permanence of the premises, the value of
the product in storage, and many other points make the advocacy of
fire-proof warehouses commendable. The warehouse, where floors are
likely to be used for storing moist or wet goods, or for curing meats,
should preferably be solid concrete floors, rather than tile, with
concrete joists and concrete topping.

=Floor Construction.=--The ideal packing house floor is as yet to be
discovered. What appears to be the best in a warehouse is a monolithic
floor, treated under the zones where meats are to be piled, and all
trucking thoroughfares paved with brick or tiles, or perhaps an
asphaltum preparation, as the latter can be replaced.

=Coolers.=--In most instances it is best to arrange the coolers on one
or more of the upper floors. Cooler design varies, but late practice
has been drifting back to the old system of open spray brine which is
described elsewhere. The customary practice in the United States is
for some type of natural circulation, as by the use of ducts with air
chilling facilities above the chill rooms. Practice has proven for
fresh meats that the use of this system is far superior to that of
forced draft, sometimes called “indirect” refrigeration.

=Fan and Ventilation.=--In northern climates it is a good practice
to place a window at each end of the pipe or brine loft to admit
a circulation of air during cold weather, locating an exhaust fan
centrally over the coolers with a duct connecting with the fan from
each room, drawing air from either end toward the center via the open
windows in the end of the loft. This induces a circulation through the
hot and cold air ducts which produces quite sufficient circulation and
a uniformity of temperature in the contents in the room below.

In warm climates the use of roof plugs, and airing or venting the
cooler at each filling, is, in our judgment, an expensive method, and
not justified by the results obtained.

=Spray System.=--The “spray system” has been rejuvenated and is very
popular. This system is particularly effective for warm beef and sheep
coolers and for hog coolers. It can well be installed at slaughter
and shipping points, but its use in hanging rooms where beef is aged
and held for sale is questionable, by reason of the probability of
shrinkage owing to the rapid air circulation maintained.

_Width of Rooms._--There are various opinions as to the width and
height required in a bunker room for installation of the spray
system. A room from thirty-two feet to forty-eight feet wide can be
successfully operated. Increased width beyond that means increased
height and this, in turn, means more construction cost.

Rooms twenty-five feet wide with twenty feet pans have been built and
successfully operated, but at less widths the brine is likely to carry
over. The value of the spray system, and the rapidity with which a
room and its contents can be cooled by its use, seems to be due to two
causes, the direct contact of the air with the finely divided brine
spray and the induced air currents created by a mechanical circulation.

[Illustration: FIG. 22.--SECTION OF COLD STORAGE HOUSE EQUIPPED WITH
SPRAY SYSTEM.]

_Types of Construction._--The accompanying diagrams show two types
of construction. One wherein the brine pan is made of cast concrete
and the rails suspended from wood rail beams hung on rods attached
to the ceiling. The other one shows the brine pan made of wood built
up from supported rail beams. In the first instance the brine spray
is collected on what might be termed a composition roof (without the
gravel covering) made from asphalt saturated paper, and asphalt laid
over a cork sub-base spread upon and cemented to the concrete pan.
In the second instance the pan is made from wood, exhibiting a wood
paneled surface on the underside, covered with cork, more wood and then
lined with a galvanized iron pan.

_Arrangement of Piping._--In both instances the brine spray header
was located near the top of the hot air flue partition and the sprays
directed to a line below the horizontal, to insure the brine falling
well within the pan, to prevent splash through the cold air flue.

The brine is collected and returned through a main pipe to the brine
tank in which are placed the submerged coils.

_Salt Brine--Calcium Brine._--One system is operated on salt brine in
which the accumulation is sterilized by boiling, then filtered and used
for curing purposes. The other is operated on calcium brine which is
concentrated by passing over a concentrator. It is then returned to the
brine tank.

_Spray Devices._--There are various spray devices purchasable on the
market, some approaching atomizers. The owner usually selects something
to his taste. A common spigot can be used with a piece of bent tin to
distribute the brine at the outlet, but more efficient devices are
obtainable.

The location of the nozzles at a distance of about four feet apart
seems to be ample for most purposes. The outlet opening should be about
one-half inch, valve controlled to suit. It is well to arrange long
length of pipe so that each cock is supplied with an equal quantity of
brine by use of forked connections on a complete supply circuit.

=Galvanized Sheet Iron Pipes.=--For room cooling, formerly used to a
considerable extent was sheet iron pipes. The three-inch galvanized
iron spiral riveted pipe is recommended, or where this is not readily
obtainable three-inch galvanized iron crimp-joint and soldered seam
pipe may be substituted. While not quite so substantial as the spiral
riveted pipe, it will, with ordinary care and attention last a long
time.

The use of spiral riveted pipe has been found unnecessary, provided
No. 24 gauge metal is used in lock seamed pipe. Open-hearth steel,
galvanized, is preferable to Bessemer. The writer experienced one
failure with the latter.

[Illustration: FIG. 23.--SECTION SHOWING BRINE SALT AND SPRAY SYSTEMS.]

Ten different pieces of this pipe ten feet long were capped on either
end and submitted to a hydrostatic pressure test; the bursting pressure
average of the ten pieces was found to be 146 pounds to the square
inch, while some of the samples stood a pressure of over 180 pounds to
the square inch. In actual practice the pipe used for this purpose is
never subjected to a pressure exceeding forty pounds to the square inch.

=Coil Rooms.=--Fig. 24 shows the end view of the cooler with the detail
of the hangers on which the pipe rests. Fig. 25 shows the end view of
one bay with the pipe located and connected.

[Illustration: FIG. 24.--END VIEW OF COOLER; DETAIL OF PIPE HANGERS.]

=Quantity of Pipe.=--In brine pipe refrigeration for cattle the author
would recommend to each sixteen-foot bay, eight series of three-inch
galvanized spiral riveted pipes with six pipes in each series. These
make a total of forty-eight pipes for the fore-cooler, where the
largest proportion of pipe is needed, and forty pipes per section in
storage beef cooler. For hog coolers forty-eight pipes per section
throughout is recommended.

[Illustration: FIG. 25.--END VIEW OF BAY SHOWING REFRIGERATING PIPE
HUNG TO CEILING.]

=Method of Erecting.=--Adoption of this system where brine circulation
is used can be made for meat storage rooms. (See Fig. 26 for detail
of the end pipes with fittings for the hose connections.) Pipes are
usually furnished in ten-foot lengths, riveted and soldered, and are
slipped together like ordinary stovepipe joint, all of these slip
joints being carefully soldered to be brine tight, a sufficient number
joined together to make runs of the required length to suit the pipe
chamber. At the end of the runs one of the three hose connection
fittings shown in Fig. 26 (feed connection, intermediate connection and
return connection) is put on for the purpose of connecting the runs
together by means of the rubber hose. Chatterton’s compound is put on
the nipple of the fitting connection quite warm, the hose being slipped
over at once and a wire clamp then put around the hose very tightly,
when the connection is complete.

[Illustration: FIG. 26.--DETAIL OF END PIPES, SHOWING DIFFERENT
FITTINGS.]

=Life of Pipe.=--This pipe is recommended for the following reasons:
First, for its economy; second, for its lasting qualities. As proven
by experience, galvanized pipe will last fully twice as long as
the ordinary black iron pipe. This would hardly seem possible when
first considered by anyone not having had the experience, and would
naturally seem contrary to his judgment. There was installed in 1890
over 100,000 lineal feet of this light galvanized pipe in a Chicago
plant, some of which is still in use.

Samples of the galvanized pipe that had been in use for upward of ten
years were found to have a very slight coating or deposit of rust on
the inside of the pipe, less than one-thirty-second of an inch thick,
and adhering very tightly to the surface. By removing this rust with
a sharp instrument it was found that the galvanizing was as clear and
bright as when originally put on.

[Illustration: FIG. 27.--SIMPLE METHOD OF SUPPORTING BRINE PIPES.]

=Cellar Ceiling Suspension.=--In Fig. 27 is shown a very simple,
inexpensive and effective method of supporting brine pipes in cold
storage rooms, or in rooms used as curing cellars, etc. This arranges a
combination whereby a drip pan can be suspended for catching the drip,
the construction being illustrated. It is preferable to line the pans
with galvanized iron so as to preclude possibilities of leakage. The
wooden construction of the ordinary class is usual.

=Ratio of Piping.=--Regarding the quantity of pipe required, this in a
measure depends upon the insulation of the cellars and the temperature
of brine circulated. With brine at a temperature of 10° F., one lineal
foot of pipe will supply radiation sufficient for twenty cubic feet of
cellar.

[Illustration: FIG. 28.--GARDNER’S “CURTAIN” SYSTEM FOR BRINE
CIRCULATION AS INSTALLED IN A CHICAGO PACKING HOUSE.]

=Length of Coil.=--The inlet and outlet pipe should have a 1¹⁄₄-inch
connection, this being ample for a coil about four hundred feet in
length.

=Defrosting.=--To dispose of the accumulation of frost that collects
on the coils within the coil bunkers over the beef and hog coolers, it
is usual to have a warm brine arrangement consisting of an independent
feed header, cross connections to the coils, a tank containing a
heating coil and a small pump.

When the frost collects so as to be detrimental, a supply of brine
in the small storage tank is heated to about 60° F., and it is
continuously pumped through the small auxiliary header, thence into
the coil it is desired to remove the frost from, until the frost is
loosened, when it is lightly tapped and falls to the floor of the
bunker pan. Unless the cellar temperatures are carried low it is
unnecessary to use this system in the curing cellars, as the coils will
drip from natural melting.

The use of this system of brine installation with a proper defrosting
arrangement has much to recommend it as to economy and efficiency,
particularly in use with a balanced brine system.

=Later Practice.=--A better system superseding that just described is
to arrange the coil loft or cooler coils with a brine drip over them
to remove the frost, the drip being collected in the pan, conducted to
a reservoir and re-circulated. Similar to the manner used with direct
expansion piping.

=Gardner Curtain System.=--One of the early types of open brine
chilling was the Gardner curtain system.

For this system a refrigerator or curtain room is provided, directly
above the meat coolers, and of same length and width, in which is fixed
an open pan or brine distributing trough, located over the sheets and
distributing the brine thereon. Fig. 28 shows a photograph of the
curtains in a refrigerator or bunker room.

A plan of installation showing position of curtains is given in Fig.
29, and Fig. 30 shows a cross section of a bunker room with the
arrangement and insulation in a wood constructed building.

=Direct Expansion Piping.=--There is a decided opinion among many
operators that direct expansion ammonia system piping, is preferable
over any brine circulation system, owing to the non-requirement of
pumps for circulating purposes. Caution is necessary in erecting
all direct expansion piping. It must be amply and securely erected,
avoiding the use of coach-screws or lag-bolts, owing to the danger of
rotting and giving away, thus causing perhaps fatal injuries. Room
piping will appear best situated when grouped over alleys and arranged
with drip pans so located as to avoid drip onto meats or packages.
The ratio of piping given for brine pipe will hold as to lineal feet,
substituting foot for foot of two-inch instead of three-inch pipe.

[Illustration: FIG. 29.--PLAN OF GARDNER “CURTAIN” SYSTEM OF
REFRIGERATION.]

=Chill-Room Bunkers.=--In chill-room bunkers there should be a brine
system arranged to drip the brine over the pipes for use during the
early hours of filling, since a double advantage can be gained by so
doing. This is quite effective when intelligently operated.

=Freezer and Storage Buildings.=--The use of freezer buildings have
become of such consequence in larger packing plants for the storage
of meats that it would seem opportune to introduce a description of a
freezer storage building and to discuss the requirements necessary for
it.

[Illustration: FIG. 30.--CROSS SECTION COOLER, BUNKER “CURTAIN” SYSTEM.]

_Growth._--The growth to include as it now does, in most instances,
a produce merchandising business with its seasons of production and
storage together with the necessity of providing low temperature
storage space for storing delicately cured hams and bacon over seasons,
make it almost a necessity to provide low temperature storage or seek
it away from the premises, with the incident expense involved in
transfer and return, storage charges, and the damage resultant from
exposure.

_Location._--A first consideration is the location of the building for
operating advantages, which is a local matter, but involves shipping
facilities by team and by car, convenience to the source of production,
and power plant. Naturally the value of the commodity in storage, which
at present prices, reaches a considerable amount, and the safety of the
product becomes a matter of no small thought.

_Permanence._--The permanence of a building for this purpose once
constructed, and the likelihood of changes due to variation in
business being small, together with the safety of its contents and a
consequent low insurance rate, makes fire-proof cold storage buildings
highly desirable. In these days of increasing insurance rates,
buildings that are rated from twenty to thirty cents per thousand
dollars--non-sprinkled--appeal to us. These rates are not uncommon.
Such can be obtained on properly constructed buildings with adequate
exposure protection.

_Concrete or Steel Frames._--Fire-proof cold storage buildings can be
of various styles of construction. The two types mostly used being,
first, of steel frame with either cast iron or steel columns, girders
and beams with tile or concrete in combination for floors, or secondly,
reinforced concrete frame with concrete and tile in combination, or
monolithic concrete floors.

For moderate heights the walls can be self-sustaining, that is, built
up solidly; but beyond a certain height it becomes economical to use
curtain walls similar to the well known “skyscraper.” In buildings up
to eight stories, reinforced concrete frame with monolithic floors
prove more economical than steel frame with tile or concrete floors.
Reinforced concrete buildings are more lasting, since it is impossible
to closely fit tile around steel columns and girders and exclude air,
moisture, heat and condensation, existing in this class of building,
conditions most contributing to rust. The life of steel framing under
these conditions is an untried experiment. On the other hand, in the
reinforced concrete building the strength is much derived from the
concrete and when well designed and the work well executed the steel
is imbedded and thoroughly concealed in the concrete, remote from the
conditions above stated and contributing to an indefinitely long
life. However, steel columns and girders encased in concrete make them
practically the same.

_Limit for Economic Concrete Columns._--Eight-story warehouses with
basement appear to be ample in height for ordinary conditions. Meeting
the insistent demands of building ordinances in some cities like
Chicago, these can be constructed of reinforced concrete with a maximum
column diameter of twenty-eight inches, with all floors designed for
200 pounds per square foot. This height of building with such loadings
approximates the practical limit of sustaining on footings on the usual
underlying earth, with building panels sixteen feet square, the column
spacing best adapted to storage purposes.

_Types of Construction._--In concrete buildings just referred to, our
preference in style of construction is either of the mushroom type,
that is, flat ceilings without girders; or secondly, with girders
extending in one direction only. An inexperienced engineer in his
efforts to minimize the quantity of steel and concrete requirement will
invariably wish to carry girders from column to column and cross beams
between girders, making the ceiling look like a checkerboard, losing
perhaps twenty inches or more head room on every story and making a
much more expensive building to construct and operate. The same fault
is noticeable in steel frame buildings, since nearly always there are
cross beams between girders. This drops the chilling pipes, curtailing
head room and makes an unsatisfactory arrangement. Whereas with a
mushroom or flat ceiling with girders in one direction, the difficulty
is overcome.

_Space Losses; Beams Two Directions._--In an eight-story building the
additional height above referred to amounts to from ten to fifteen feet
of unnecessary building and adds greatly to the construction cost.

=Exterior Walls.=--As for the exterior surface of the building, this
should be brick, the lighter the color the better, making absorption
of heat less probable. When building reinforced concrete frame with
curtain walls, the design should be such that the brick work entirely
covers the concrete frame, since it is very difficult to obtain tight
joints abutting beams and columns when attempting to build panels of
brick in concrete framing. It is desirable to prevent air and moisture
leakage.

[Illustration: FIG. 31.--GROUND PLAN OF A FREEZER AND STORAGE
BUILDING.]

_Qualities in Brick._--In the selection of brick sufficient attention
is rarely paid to the obtaining of brick burned approximately to
vitrification. The presence of salt, as is frequently noticed on
exterior walls of packing houses adjacent to floor lines, indicates
that brine has been percolating the walls, due to their porosity.
In the same manner water will pass through the opposite direction,
and very far disqualify the insulation materials unless they be
non-absorbing, and even these are lessened in value owing to the
accumulating moisture.

_Wall Construction._--All kinds of tile and plaster or concrete
exteriors should be avoided, since it is impossible to prevent
shrinkage cracks which permit percolation of water, eventually shelling
off plastered surfaces and deteriorating insulation.

_Ventilation._--In northern climates it is desirable to take advantage
of the winter air when it equals or is lower in temperature than
the rooms where product is stored, or when empty to air and cleanse
an apartment. For convenience in this it is advisable to locate
refrigerator windows in the same line to permit ready flow through the
room; these being put on hinges similar to a door.

_Insulation._--When undertaking to construct buildings fire proof,
problems in insulation are encountered. The more dense or heavier the
material used in building, the more cold radiated from all surfaces
unless effectually cut off. In ordinary type of construction the
various floors rest on exterior walls and in no way is it possible to
prevent a very great loss of cold being carried through the floors,
thence to the walls and dissipated thereby. Such matters are not
trivial in their importance. At one wholesale distributing market
deterioration in insulation during six or seven years has necessitated
the doubling of refrigerating machine service and the volume of
business is practically the same. To obviate this the remedy seems
to be to surround the building on all sides and cover the roof with
an encasing of insulation, putting an exterior covering of brick or
impervious material over this to protect the insulation, and to
prevent moisture coming in contact with the insulation. It is just like
dropping a small box within a larger one, the space between the sides
being the insulation.

_Double Posts or Walls._--This is accomplished when building self
sustaining walls by constructing a set of columns adjacent to the walls
with girders from column to column and supporting floor slabs upon
the girders, not permitting either columns, girders or slab to be in
contact with the exterior wall. In a skeleton construction design there
are twin columns, girders and beams, the inner set carrying the floor
loading and the outer the building walls, the insulation lining being
unbroken between them.

_Varying Temperatures._--Commercial demands require a variety of
temperatures, some at zero, some at fifteen degrees and some at
thirty-two or over, in the one building. The maintaining of these
varying temperatures in one building requires most careful designing,
since the concrete everlastingly conveys cold and attempts to cut off a
floor from that above can only be done by comprehensive and extravagant
insulating.

There have been storage houses where with a freezer situated over or
under an egg room a stove was maintained in the egg room to offset the
cold temperature from above or below. A dangerous, costly expedient
as well as the risk of freezing eggs. To encase and isolate a room to
maintain zero to fifteen degrees in it and, say, thirty-two above, it
is necessary to perform the following insulating: Line the ceiling and
beams; cover the floor; cover the columns, so as to really envelop the
cold. When insulation is placed on the floor, naturally the question
of a wearing surface over the insulation is apparent and to maintain
it fire-proof this must be cement or perhaps mastic. This causes an
expenditure for wearing surface over the floor insulation, increased
column quantity and strength, increased deadload of floors, insulation
of floor and ceiling, of columns, and this, conservatively speaking,
amounts to a total of eighty-five to ninety cents per square foot of
area. This over one foot is but a small amount, but on a building one
hundred feet square it becomes eighty-five hundred dollars per story.

_How to Sub-divide._--To meet the variety of temperatures required,
subdividing the premises into sections, but doing it vertically rather
than attempt to divide it horizontally, with a portion set aside for
each division of temperature. If the business is of such volume as to
permit this, make no attempt to insulate one floor from that above,
as there is no practical way to do it and obviate an investment in
insulation from which there is no return. A thorough external wall
and roof insulation is strongly recommended, and the cold radiating
into a room above that may be only partially filled or empty may be
considered as no great loss, provided the outer contacts are eliminated
or minimized.

In fire-proof construction the loss of cold through the ground is
an unsolvable problem. To effectually do so it would be required to
insulate every floor slab, top and bottom, all wall beam and column
surfaces. From the foregoing deduction the cost would be prohibitive.

_Basement Freezers._--It is obvious from this argument that freezers
should not be located in basements. It is far better to locate them
on the upper floors of the buildings and make the cellar a moderately
cold room, permitting the cold that will to radiate from the columns
to chill it, but supplying such additional piping as may be required
to maintain a regular temperature. If a freezer is placed on a first
floor, it requires insulating the basement ceiling, which can be
readily done. The basement columns are not insulated.

_Piping Systems._--With reference to piping for freezing boxed goods
or beef cuts, the shelving system made from coils of pipe upon which
to store the product while freezing is preferable. They are equally
efficacious, whether used in brine circulation or direct expansion
of ammonia. The coils in the freezing rooms are located on ceilings,
making one layer over ceiling for fifteen-degree rooms where conditions
permit, for handiness in removing frost. If the rooms be carried at
thirty-two degrees or over, group the coils in alleys to enable easy
location of pans for collecting drip, when coils are out of service.
Whether one uses direct refrigerating by expansion of ammonia or brine
circulation through pipes hung in rooms or indirect refrigerating by
circulation of chilled air is a matter governed by local conditions and
requirements.

[Illustration: FIG. 32.--LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF A FREEZER AND STORAGE
ROOM.]

_Area and Division._--The plant shown in Figs. 31, 32 and 33 has a
large ground area and is a non-sprinkled risk. This building has a
frontage of 230 feet by 130 feet depth. To avoid an insurance area
charge for too large floor areas, and because of a desire to carry
several temperatures, the building was subdivided into three sections,
A, B and C, by putting in fire walls. It was designed to have Section
“C” subdivided into two halves, permitting the maintenance of two
classes of low temperature. Section “B” was set aside primarily for
carrying eggs and apples and thoroughly isolated. Section “A” was
treated in like manner to Section “C,” except that provision was made
for the division wall, which was not put in at time of construction.
Illustrating the design is a general floor plan of the premises
together with a longitudinal section drawing and a cross section
drawing of Section “C.”

[Illustration: FIG. 33.--TRANSVERSE SECTION THROUGH FREEZER SECTION
“C.”]

_Receiving and Discharging._--Referring to the plan, attention is
drawn to the three sections. Ingress and egress have been provided
by railroad track at one end of Section “A” and double track with
platforms on each side connected at end. Twin elevators with stairs are
located within a continuous vestibule and the center section can be
served from either elevator and stairs in either vestibule. The corner
stairs in Sections “A” and “B” were demanded by the City Building
Department, but not necessary to the operation of the plant.

_Insulation Lines._--Referring to the longitudinal section observe the
twin columns, twin girders on each floor level, the inner carrying the
floor construction and the outer the curtain walls. Notice the inlay
of insulation. The outer walls entirely enclose the concrete skeleton,
making the brick work continuous and sightly.

The transverse drawing of Section “C” shows a partition continuous from
basement to ceiling of sixth floor. This partition is not built from
floor to floor, but continuous through the floors, making either end
virtually an isolated building.

_Warm Storage--One Floor._--It was desirable in this instance to use
the upper floors of the building for warm storage, consequently the
top encasing insulation is placed on the ceiling of the sixth story,
continuing to and meeting the wall insulation, which with the wall
insulation encases the cold storage, as spoken of for the ideal. The
floor construction is of flat ceiling type, there being no girders to
contend with in piling product or installing piping.

_Part Freezers._--Frequently the space required for freezing purposes
will not be sufficient to justify the construction of an independent
building. Sometimes consideration is given to building freezers in a
horizontal belt, horizontally across the building. This is not a proper
construction, since it costs much more to insulate than if the same
volume were arranged vertically with one section above the other. In
other words, if one desires to cover a floor surface of 20,000 square
feet it would be far better to make it four areas of 5,000 feet in a
four-story building than on one or two floors.

CHAPTER IX

SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.

  RECEIVING LIVE STOCK -- WATERING -- DRIVING CATTLE -- KNOCKING CATTLE
  -- STICKING -- HEADING -- PRITCH STICKS -- FOOT SKINNING -- RIPPING
  AND LEG BREAKING -- FLOORING CATTLE -- BREAST SAWING -- FELL CUTTING
  -- RUMPING -- BEEF SPREADERS -- FELL BEATING -- GUTTING -- BACKING --
  TAIL SAWING -- SPLITTING -- SPLITTING CLEAVERS -- CLEARING OUT AND
  HIDE DROPPING -- NECK SPLITTING -- BRUISE TRIMMING -- SKIRT TRIMMING
  -- WASHING CATTLE -- FOUNTAIN BRUSHES -- DRESSING CATTLE -- CONVEYORS.

=Receiving Live Stock.=--The beginning of the packing business relating
to hogs and cattle starts when they are received in the pens. The pens
in most climates should be paved, provided with proper drainage and
ample watering facilities. Before animals are slaughtered the first
essential point is to see they are in condition to be slaughtered,
namely, that they are not excited, fevered, out of condition, under
fed, or, in other words, that they are as near their normal condition
as possible. Cattle should be allowed to rest over night before they
are slaughtered, if they have been driven or transported any distance;
for if the animal is tired or excited it will not bleed properly when
slaughtered, and if killed in this condition the meat has a red, fiery
appearance, and is generally unwholesome. It is a condition which the
practical eye of the tradesman will take cognizance of very readily,
and he will not be slow to use it to his advantage.

=Water and Sprinkling.=--Ample fresh water should be provided for
drinking purposes, and sprinkling hogs and cattle is very desirable
in hot weather. Fig. 34 is a view of suitable resting pens. After
the animals have rested a sufficient length of time to be in normal
condition they should be driven to the killing pens carefully, and
without undue violence, such as striking them across the back with
heavy sticks, or prodding them unnecessarily while in the pens, as
this abuse shows on the meat very readily when the hide is removed.
This damage is invariably done on the loin and rump of the animal, and
as this is the high-priced part of the meat, it will readily be seen
that the loss is quite considerable. With stubborn or wild cattle it
is often necessary to be quite severe, but a practiced handler of live
stock will do it in such a manner as to avoid injuring the carcass.

[Illustration: FIG. 34.--CATTLE RESTING IN PENS BEFORE BEING
SLAUGHTERED.]

=Driving Cattle.=--A wooden knob for the end of a prod pole will
prevent a great deal of bruising and consequent discoloration of
the meat. When penning cattle from overhead, the penner invariably
prods the animal in the loin, oftentimes using his pole as a harpoon.
The force of the blow thus inflicted, covering so small a surface,
invariably makes a bloodshot spot, whereas, if the force of the blow
were distributed over a portion three times as large no ill effect
would be noticed, hence the use of the knobs on these poles will do
away with the bruising of loins in handling and penning cattle. Poles
electrically charged by a wire extending through the pole with a
connection to the lighting system are used by many with good results.

[Illustration: FIG. 35.--VIEW ILLUSTRATING MODERN METHOD OF STUNNING
CATTLE.]

=Knocking or Stunning Cattle.=--This represents really the first act in
the slaughtering of cattle. After they have been driven into the narrow
pens provided for the purpose, as shown in Fig. 35, the knocker follows
and with a four pound hammer strikes the animal a stunning blow in the
middle of the forehead.

In former times cattle were speared, which was accomplished by walking
over the top of the runways and with a long, sharp-pointed spear,
severing the spinal cord. This method of killing, however, is barbarous
and not nearly so efficacious as stunning by knocking, and has been
superseded in all the large abattoirs of the United States by the
method of knocking as shown in the view. It is advisable to use a
hammer of comparatively large face, so as not to indent the skulls.

[Illustration: FIG. 36.--STUNNED CATTLE BEING HOISTED FOR STICKER.]

Immediately after the stunning a sliding door is hoisted and the
stunned animal rolled out to be hoisted for sticking, heading, etc., as
shown in Figs. 36 and 37.

=Sticking.=--In sticking great care should be taken that the throat
is well opened, thereby giving the blood a free flow, also that in
sticking both arteries and veins are severed, otherwise the beef will
purge on the back and look discolored when finished. Care should also
be taken not to stick cattle “through,” for if this is done, when the
bullock is thrown on its back, the blood flows onto the chime bones,
causing a bad discoloration.

[Illustration: FIG. 37.--HEADING AND SKINNING CATTLE.]

=Heading.=--Care should be used to see that all the fat possible is
left on the tongue, leaving it perfectly smooth on the outer surface;
that as little hide as possible is left around the horns. The header,
in cutting around the side of the head, leaves all the fat on the
heads, and keeps as close to the side of the tongue as he can without
injury to same; when this is done, the hide dropper can leave a full
shaped neck, otherwise considerable meat which should be on the
carcass is left on the head, where it is afterward trimmed and only
worth tallow price. In taking the tongue from the head the trimmer
should cut close to the jaw-bone, so that all the meat possible may be
left on the tongue.

=Pritch Sticks.=--For convenience in handling the carcasses on the
beds, a pritch is used (See Fig. 38). This stick is arranged with a
spike in one end and a ferrule on the other; used to hold the animal
when rolled on its back. Pritches were formerly made with spikes at
both ends. A spike should not be used on the end of the pritch coming
in contact with the beef, as the spike often punctures the hide. The
end of the pritch, which is to rest upon the floor should have a spike
inserted. The end which is to support the carcass, should have a
ferrule of 1¹⁄₂-inch pipe, roughened like a saw tooth, which prevents
it from slipping and at the same time does not injure the hide.

[Illustration: FIG. 38.--PRITCH TO SUPPORT ANIMAL WHEN TURNED ON BACK.]

=Foot Skinning.=--Foot skinning is the term applied to taking off the
feet. In doing this, cut around the hoofs closely. Do not open the
hide any higher than necessary to unjoint the feet. If the shank is
uncovered more than necessary, it is likely to become dirty, and it is
impossible to make it clean if the tissue becomes stained. Be careful
to see that none of the cords from the front part of the shin-bone are
left on the hide. The men skinning the front feet usually raise the
gullet. In doing this they should be careful to open the neck straight
from where the sticker left off, and guard against cutting the weasand.
The gullet should not be raised too high with the knife when clearing,
for if this is done, it allows the blood to run back on the ribs,
producing the same effect as if the bullock had been stuck through.

=Ripping and Leg Breaking.=--In this operation care should be exercised
to see that the first cut is made exactly where the sticker left off,
opening the breast and hide in the center the full length of the
animal, in a straight line. Uncover the gam only sufficient to reach
the joint, leaving the hide over balance of shank to protect it. In
this way you get very much better shanks than if skinned too low. Cut
closely to hoofs so all hide possible comes off around the feet, but
that none of the cords are left on the hide.

[Illustration: FIG. 39.--VIEW SHOWING DOUBLE-BED KILLING FLOOR IN A
MODERN SLAUGHTER HOUSE.]

=Flooring Cattle.=--This expression describes rimming over and siding
the bullock. The special object of this operation is to attain a smooth
hide without scores or cuts, smooth work on the bullock, which consists
in saving the fell very carefully, clearing the rose on shoulder fully,
also the saving of the fell back of the elbow and the forward shoulder.
The latter part is a very particular point, as if the fell is not left
it shows black upon chilling.

=Breast Sawing.=--In sawing the breast, it should be done centrally,
holding saw at same angle as that at which the animal is lying,
otherwise the saw works toward one side, and makes a very bad-looking
brisket on one side of the beef. Saw where marked, otherwise it will
become necessary to trim meat from the neck, if the marks have not been
followed.

Caul pulling consists in taking out the caul in a tidy, cleanly
condition, keeping same off the floor, and putting it into a box. Care
should also be taken not to cut or tear the intestines, and if so, that
they are immediately skewered.

=Fell Cutting.=--Fell cutting consists in skinning the hide off the
hind legs when animal is on the first hoist. The points to be carefully
looked after in this work is to see that smooth work is done both on
the hides and on the beef itself.

=Rumping.=--This operation requires very skillful work, and calls for a
great deal of attention. Points to be attained are a smooth hide free
from scores or cuts, and smooth work on the beef. Care must be used
in this work to see that the rumper keeps very close to the hide on
outside of the leg, in order that the fell-beater may do good work. If
the rumper is careless and breaks through the fell, it is impossible
to carry this down smoothly. In working around the tail, care must be
taken not to cut into the lean meat, especially on thin cattle, where
there is comparatively little covering.

=Fell Beating.=--If the floorman and rumper do their work properly,
it is comparatively easy to do a good job at fell beating. The
fell-beaters should then use care to see that they do not tear
through, and, in marking with the chopper, to mark in such a way that
they tear back instead of cutting off.

=Gutting.=--The objects sought for in this particular work are: First,
cleanliness, and next, to save the fat smooth and without tearing
it around the bones. The liver should be taken out without tearing.
Special care should be used in cutting between kidneys, to open in the
center without cutting tenderloin. Also to leave all tenderloin in
the bullock, for, if any comes out with the “pluck” it is wasted. The
workmen should also be careful about cutting intestines or weasands.

[Illustration: FIG. 40.--ORDINARY BEEF SPREADER.]

=Backing.=--The objects to be attained in this particular work, are:
First, smooth hides, free from scores or cuts, at the same time leaving
no fat on the hide, and next, particular care should be taken in the
work required in the dropping of the hide to see that the fat is not
removed from the loins.

=Tail Sawing.=--The point in this work is to see that the saw is
absolutely in the center, and that the first bone is sawed centrally.
Better work can doubtless be done by sawing the tail from the rear,
“popping” it twice.

=Beef Spreaders.=--In slaughtering cattle it was formerly the custom
to use an ordinary spreader as shown in Fig. 40, which spread all
carcasses, large or small, a certain distance and kept them spread
from the time they were hung until finished splitting. The spring beef
spreader illustrated in Fig. 41, is a great improvement over this old
spreader. When the cattle are first hung on this appliance the center
piece is raised up, allowing the hooks to hang in a normal condition
proportionate to the size of the animal which is hung on them. Hanging
in this shape, the rumper is given a chance to do his work better.

=Splitting.=--Great care should be exercised in this particular work,
especially on “hard-bone” cattle. They should split the bone down
centrally, the entire length of the carcass. Great care should be taken
to see that they split the short fin-bone in the neck, thereby giving
the neck-splitter a chance to start centrally with his work.

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--SPRING BEEF SPREADER.]

=Splitting Cleavers.=--Care should be exercised to see that these
are in the very best condition to do the work. They should be ground
as thin as possible, yet not so thin that they will shatter. If the
splitters do not break a chopper occasionally, it is evidence that
these are not ground as thin as they should be, and, unless they are,
it is impossible to do good work in splitting. The workmen should,
however, have choppers ground different thicknesses for different
boned cattle, and never use thin-ground choppers on cows or hard-boned
steers.

[Illustration: FIG. 42.--VIEW SHOWING BEEF CARCASSES BEING SPLIT AND
HUNG ON TROLLEY.]

=Clearing Out and Hide Dropping.=--In clearing the shanks the workmen
should look carefully to see that they do not score the hide, or make
any miscuts in the meat. They should also save the veins in the under
side of forward shoulder, for when these are cut they continue to
purge, making bad-looking shanks. In hide dropping care should be used
to see that the workmen do not score or cut hides, make miscuts in the
neck, or leave any unnecessary fat on the hide. They should also skin
hides as low down as possible on the necks.

=Neck Splitting.=--This should be done carefully, splitting the
neck fairly in the center. The last bone, or “deacon” joint, in the
neck should be broken centrally, in order to give equal weights and
appearance to the beef.

=Bruise Trimming.=--This is a very essential feature in the dressing
of cattle, and one in which good judgment must be exercised. It is,
therefore, very hard to lay down any set rules further than the
following: The object of trimming bruises is to take off all blood
accumulations, and at the same time leave all the fat possible on the
hips, etc., to be bleached out by using hot water and thorough wiping.
The great danger, generally speaking, is that they are trimmed too much
and scrubbed too little. These are points which require very careful
attention.

=Skirt Trimming.=--Skirt trimming consists in cutting off the edge of
the skirts evenly on native cattle without exposing the lean meat. On
western cattle and thin stock, the skirts should be trimmed high enough
so that they will expose the lean meat, which gives a chance for all
moisture which has gathered under the film to escape, making the beef
dryer than if otherwise trimmed.

=Washing Cattle.=--It will be noted that the carcasses are then
separated into two pieces and should be thoroughly washed and scrubbed
with fountain brushes to insure absolute cleanliness in every part. The
washing and wiping should be carefully performed, and incidental to the
washing is the scraping of slime from the back and shoulders previous
to wiping. Many slaughter floors are now equipped with centrifugal
wringers for wringing out boiled cloths and cleanliness is made
paramount in handling beef.

In the washing of beef the work should start at the hind legs, the
step-ladder men being the first to use water on the beef after it is
split. Next, the back washers and wipers; after these, the neck and
rib washers, the policy being to start at the top and clean the beef as
they go along. The washers should be kept close up, handling the beef
promptly, running it into the cooler as fast as it is dressed.

=Fountain Brushes.=--A convenient apparatus for washing carcasses is
the fountain brush. It consists of an ordinary brush with a spray
attachment on the front of it, as shown in Fig. 43. To this is attached
a hose which supplies hot water from the vat above. When the men are
ready to scrub the beef a valve is turned on, the water gravitating
through the hose to the meat. In wetting it continuously the blood or
discoloration which may be gathered on the meat is rapidly taken off,
leaving it in a bright, clean condition. The beef is then wiped with
a cloth made of ten or twelve thicknesses of very coarse cheese cloth
which rapidly absorbs the moisture.

[Illustration: FIG. 43.--THE FOUNTAIN BRUSH.]

=Dressing Cattle.=--The mechanical labor of dressing cattle is about
the same whether slaughtering ten or ten hundred, except in the former
case the work would be performed by one man and in the latter by
probably one hundred and thirty. The facilities for doing the work
vary with the quantity and style of beds. Some beds are burdened
with mechanical appliances where the apparatus more than counteracts
any possible labor saving that can be effected. Common sense in this
instance would indicate simplicity, as conveyors and mechanical
appliances are costly for installation and for upkeep.

=Dressing Conveyors.=--Dressing conveyors to take the animal after
siding would, however, appear advantageous, since it permits of the
concentration of the viscera for inspection and manipulation, and makes
for facilities where the same can be handled to meet the regulations
and avoid the troubles of food products touching the floor on being
trucked. These conveyor systems can be simple or complicated and each
house requires treatment comparable with the quantity of business
performed.

The type of killing beds, where the pens range across the building
with one pen for each two beds, and a waiting pen where the drive can
be moved forward for knocking, is, in the writer’s opinion, the least
costly for standard operation, particularly if an automatic hanging-off
arrangement is provided.

CHAPTER X

DRESSING YIELDS AND CATTLE CUTTINGS.

  YIELDS OF CATTLE -- YIELD FROM TWENTY-TWO NATIVE CATTLE -- YIELD FROM
  FIFTY-NINE TEXAS CATTLE -- YIELD FROM TWENTY HEAVY CATTLE -- YIELD
  FROM THIRTY-FOUR CATTLE -- PERCENTAGE OF VARIOUS CUTS -- BEEF CUTS --
  DIAGRAM OF CUTTING -- GRADING -- LOINS -- RIBS -- ROUNDS -- CHUCKS --
  PLATES, SHANKS AND FLANKS -- BARRELED BEEF.

=Yields of Cattle.=--The following are carefully prepared calculations
made from data obtained in operation, showing yields of different
products on several different lots of cattle. These were choice
cattle in each instance and the average yield of the products is
generally larger than would be the case with the ordinary run of cattle
slaughtered. A perusal of the different tests given in the following
pages will give the reader the average yield in different lines from
the cattle handled, together with the value of the different items at
time tests were made.

The prices were in vogue at the time of the original publication and
while now obsolete are left for comparative purposes. The quantities
and percentages would remain and can be used as a basis for present
computations.

=Yield from Twenty-Two Native Cattle.=--The following tables show the
yield in beef, hides and tallow and value of offal of twenty-two native
cattle, the first in each test showing the weight and percentage of
yield of beef, hides and tallow.

The yield of sweetbreads of twenty-two cattle was twenty-two pieces,
weighing six pounds, valued at 20c per pound, total value $1.20. The
yield in tripe was twenty-two pieces, weighing 420 pounds, valued at
¹⁄₂c per pound, total value $2.10. Total value of sweetbreads and green
tripe, $3.30.

PERCENTAGE OF YIELD OF BEEF, HIDES AND TALLOW.

  ================+======+================+========+======
                  |Weight|                | Weight |  Per
      Product     | lbs. |    Averages    |  lbs.  | Cent
  ----------------+------+----------------+--------+------
  Live weight     |23,700|Average         |1,077.00|  ...
  Dressed weight  |14,239|Average         |  646.00| 60.08
  Shipping weight |14,162|Shrinkage       |   ...  |  0.54
  Hides weight    | 1,755|Average         |   ...  |  7.40
  ----------------+------+----------------+--------+------
  Total fat weight| 1,391|Average per head|   63.25|  5.80
  ----------------+------+----------------+--------+------

TRIMMINGS FROM LOT OF TWENTY-TWO CATTLE.

  ==============+======+================+===+=======
      Product   |Pounds|      Value     |Total Value
  --------------+------+----------------+-----------
  22 tongues    | 149  |$0.55    each   |  $12.10
  22 livers     | 248  |  .35    each   |    7.70
  22 hearts     |  56  |  .07    each   |    1.54
  22 tails      |  40  |  .03¹⁄₂ each   |     .77
  Cheek meat    |  88  |  .03    per lb.|    2.64
  Head meat     |  16  |  .03    per lb.|     .48
  Fine meat     |   7  |  .03    per lb.|     .21
  Head trimmings|  11  |  .03    per lb.|     .33
  --------------+------+----------------+-----------
    Total value | ...  |       ...      |  $25.77
  --------------+------+----------------+-----------

CASINGS FROM LOT OF TWENTY-TWO CATTLE.

  ======================+========+=================+============
                        |Per cent|                 |
          Product       |  used  |      Value      | Total Value
  ----------------------+--------+-----------------+------------
  20 sets round guts    |   91   |$0.14    set     |    $2.80
   8 sets middles       |   36   |  .50    set     |     4.00
  22 pcs. bungs         |  100   |  .11    each    |     2.42
  20 pcs. bung gut skins|   91   |  .01¹⁄₂ each    |      .25
  19 pcs. weasands      |   86   |  .05    per pce.|      .95
   8 pcs. bladders      |   36   |  .30    per doz.|      .22
  14 lbs. weasand meat  |        |  .01    per lb. |      .14
  ----------------------+--------+-----------------+------------
    Total value         |  ...   |       ...       |   $10.78
  ----------------------+--------+-----------------+------------

YIELD FROM HEADS AND FEET OF TWENTY-TWO CATTLE.

  ================+========+=======+==================+======+========
                  |        |Wt. per|                  |      |
                  | Total  | head, |                  |      |  Value
      Product     |Wt. lbs.|  lbs. |      Price       | Am’t |per head
  ----------------+--------+-------+------------------+------+--------
  Skulls          |    88  |  4.00 |$18.00    per ton |$ 0.79|$0.03590
  Jaws            |    43  |  1.95 | 18.00    per ton |   .39|  .01772
  Knuckles        |    63  |  2.86 | 18.00    per ton |   .56|  .02545
  Dark hoofs      |    39  |  1.77 | 22.00    per ton |   .43|  .01954
  No. 1 r’nd shins|    26  |  1.18 | 42.00    per ton |   .54|  .02454
  Flat shins      |    19  |   .86 | 30.00    per ton |   .29|  .01318
  No. 1 tallow    |   145  |  6.59 |   .06³⁄₄ per lb. |  9.78|  .44454
  Neatsfoot oil   |    23  |  1.05 |   .64    per gal.|  1.93|  .08773
  Tankage         |   110  |  5.00 | 16.00    per ton |   .88|  .04000
  ----------------+--------+-------+------------------+------+--------
    Total         |   ...  |   ... |        ...       |$15.59|$0.70860
  ----------------+--------+-------+------------------+------+--------

The product sent to tank room was 1,675 pounds green weight, the
average per head being 76.14 pounds.

In figuring the value of the offal in the different tests the materials
sent to the tank room are not taken into consideration. The blood from
the twenty-two cattle was eight pounds per head of dry blood; total,
176 pounds; value, at the rate of $33.00 per ton, equals $2.90.

The sinews from the twenty-two lot was 1.93 pounds per head; total
weight, 42 pounds; value at the rate of $19.00 per ton, equals 40c.

The fat from the twenty-two native cattle showed the following yield in
oleo stock:

                      { 1,122 lbs. No. 1 stock  =  80.00 per cent.
  1,391 lbs. tallow = {   193 lbs. scrap tallow =  13.88 per cent.
                      {    76 lbs. waste        =   5.46 per cent.
                                                  100.00 per cent.

The 1,122 pounds of stock showed the following yield in oleo oil and
stearine:

YIELD IN OLEO OIL AND STEARINE.

  =================+======+=======+========+=======
                   |  Per |Weight,| Price  |
       Product     | cent |  lbs. |per lb. | Value
  -----------------+------+-------+--------+------
  No. 1 oil        | 79.77|   895 |$0.10¹⁄₂| $94.37
  No. 1 stearine   | 19.52|   219 |  .13¹⁄₂|  29.56
  Waste in pressing|   .71|     8 |  ...   |  ...
  -----------------+------+-------+--------+-------
    Totals         |100.00| 1,122 |  ...   |$123.93
  -----------------+------+-------+--------+-------

The total value of the offal of the twenty-two native cattle, including
the tallow, was $182.67, an average per head of $8.30.

=Yield from Fifty-Nine Texas Cattle.=--The following table shows the
yield in beef, hides and tallow and the value of offal of fifty-nine
fed Texas cattle:

PERCENTAGE OF YIELD OF BEEF, HIDES AND TALLOW.

  ===============+=======+================+=======+=====
                 |Weight,|                |Weight,|  Per
      Product    | lbs.  |    Averages    | lbs.  | cent
  ---------------+-------+----------------+-------+-----
  Live weight    |64,260 |Average         |1080.  |  ...
  Dressed weight |39,609 |Average         | 671.  |61.64
  Shipping weight|39,365 |Shrinkage       |  ...  |  .62
  Total fat      | 3,896 |Average per head|  66.03| 6.00
  Hides          | 4,946 |Average per head|  83.92| 7.70
  ---------------+-------+----------------+-------+-----

The yield in sweetbreads was 59 pieces, weight 20 pounds, value 20c per
pound; total, $4.00.

The output of tripe was 59 pieces, weighing 1,080 pounds, valued at
¹⁄₂c per pound; total value, $5.40. Total value of sweetbreads and
green tripe, $9.40.

TRIMMINGS FROM FIFTY-NINE TEXAS CATTLE.

  ==============+=======+================+======
                |Weight,|                | Total
      Product   | lbs.  |      Value     | value
  --------------+-------+----------------+------
  59 tongues    |  418  |$0.55    each   |$32.45
  59 livers     |  744  |  .35    each   | 20.65
  59 hearts     |  160  |  .07    each   |  4.13
  59 tails      |   88  |  .03¹⁄₂ each   |  2.06
  Cheek meat    |  227  |  .03    per lb.|  6.81
  Head meat     |   37  |  .03    per lb.|  1.01
  Fine meat     |   18  |  .03    per lb.|   .54
  Head trimmings|   24  |  .03    per lb.|   .72
  --------------+-------+----------------+------
    Total value |  ...  |      ...       |$68.37
  --------------+-------+----------------+------

YIELD IN CASINGS FROM FIFTY-NINE CATTLE.

  =======================+====+===================+======
                         |Per |                   |
                         |cent|                   | Total
          Product        |used|      Value        | value
  -----------------------+----+-------------------+------
  52 sets round guts     |  88|$0.14     per set  |$ 7.28
  20 sets middles        |  34|  .50     per set  | 10.00
  59 pcs. bungs          | 100|  .11     per pce. |  6.49
  46 pcs. bung gut skins |  78|  .01¹⁄₄   per pce.|   .57
  50 pcs. weasands       |  85|  .05     per pce. |  2.50
  43 pcs. bladders       |  73|  .30     per doz. |  1.07
  24 lbs. weasand meat   | ...|  .01     per lb.  |   .24
  -----------------------+----+-------------------+------
    Total value          | ...|       ...         |$28.15
  -----------------------+----+-------------------+------

YIELD IN HEADS AND FEET FROM FIFTY-NINE CATTLE.

  =================+=====+=======+==================+======+=======
                   |Total|Wt. per|                  |      |Value
                   | Wt. |  head |                  |      | per
       Product     | lbs.|  lbs. |       Price      |Amount| head
  -----------------+-----+-------+------------------+------+-------
  Skulls           | 247 |  4.19 |$18.00    per ton |$ 2.22|$0.0377
  Jaws             | 130 |  2.20 | 18.00    per ton |  1.17|  .0198
  Knuckles         | 161 |  2.73 | 18.00    per ton |  1.49|  .0245
  Dark hoofs       | 112 |  1.90 | 22.00    per ton |  1.23|  .0189
  Piths            |  73 |  1.24 | 20.00    per ton |   .73|  .0124
  No. 1 r’nd shins |  61 |  1.04 | 42.00    per ton |  1.28|  .0218
  Flat shins       |  43 |   .73 | 30.00    per ton |   .65|  .0109
  No. 1 tallow     | 527 |  8.93 |   .06³⁄₄ per lb. | 35.56|  .6027
  No. 1 horns      |  57 |   .97 |200.00    per ton |  5.70|  .0970
  Neatsfoot oil    |  55 |   .93 |   .64    per gal.|  4.69|  .0793
  Tankage          | 215 |  3.64 | 16.00    per ton |  1.72|  .0291
  -----------------+-----+-------+------------------+------+-------
    Total amount   | ... |  ...  |       ...        |$56.44|$0.9566
  -----------------+-----+-------+------------------+------+-------

The yield in the tank room of fifty-nine Texas cattle was 4,466 pounds
green weight to tanks, the average per head being 75.70 pounds.

The yield in blood of fifty-nine Texas cattle was eight pounds per head
of dry blood; total, 472 pounds; value, at the rate of $33.00 per ton,
equals $7.78.

The yield in sinews of fifty-nine Texas cattle was 1.87 pounds per
head; total weight, 110 pounds; value, at the rate of $19.00 per ton,
equals $1.04.

The fat from the fifty-nine Texas cattle showed the following yield in
oleo stock:

                      { 3,169 lbs. No. 1 stock =  81.34 per cent.
  3,896 lbs. tallow = { 539 lbs. scrap tallow  =  13.84 per cent.
                      { 188 lbs. waste         =   4.82 per cent.
                                                 100.00 per cent.

The above 3,169 pounds of stock showed in oleo oil and stearine:

YIELD IN OLEO OIL AND STEARINE.

  =================+======+=======+=========+=======
                   | Per  |Weight,|  Price  |
       Product     | cent | lbs.  | per lb. | Value
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------
  No. 1 oil        | 80.75| 2,559 | $0.11   |$281.49
  No. 1 stearine   | 18.49|   586 |   .13¹⁄₂|  79.11
  Waste in pressing|   .76|    24 |   ...   |  ...
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------
    Totals         |100.00| 3,169 |   ...   |$360.60
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------

The total value of the offal of fifty-nine Texas cattle, including
tallow, was $531.78; average per head, $9.103.

=Yield from Twenty Heavy Cattle.=--The following tables show the yield
in beef, hides and tallow, and the value of offal of twenty cattle,
eight hides, classified as natives and twelve as spreadies.

The yield in sweetbreads from twenty cattle was: 20 pieces weighing
seven pounds, valued at 20c per pound; total value, $1.40. The yield
in tripe was 20 pieces weighing 420 pounds, valued at ¹⁄₂c per pound;
total value, $2.10. Total value of sweetbreads and green tripe, $3.50.

The product sent to tank room was 1,626 pounds green weight to tanks,
the average per head being 81.3 pounds.

PERCENTAGE OF YIELD IN BEEF, HIDES AND TALLOW.

  ===============================+=======+================+=======+=====
                                 |Weight,|                |Weight,| Per
                Product          |  lbs. |    Averages    | lbs.  | cent
  -------------------------------+-------+----------------+-------+-----
  Live weight                    | 24,650|Average         |1,232  | ...
  Dressed weight                 | 15,894|Average         |  758  |61.64
  Shipping weight                | 14,914|Shrinkage       |       | 1.84
  Hides weight (eight natives and|       |                |       |
  twelve spreadies)              |  1,731|      ...       |   86.5| 7.10
  Total fat                      |  1,552|Average per head|   77.6| 6.20
  -------------------------------+-------+----------------+-------+-----

YIELD IN TRIMMINGS FROM TWENTY CATTLE.

  ==============+======+================+======
                |      |                | Total
     Product    |Pounds|      Value     | Value
  --------------+------+----------------+------
  20 tongues    |  173 |$0.55    each   |$11.00
  20 livers     |  261 |  .30    each   |  7.00
  20 hearts     |   64 |  .07    each   |  1.40
  20 tails      |   33 |  .03¹⁄₂ each   |   .70
  Cheek meat    |   95 |  .03    per lb.|  2.85
  Head meat     |   16 |  .03    per lb.|   .48
  Fine meat     |   10 |  .03    per lb.|   .30
  Head trimmings|   15 |  .03    per lb.|   .45
  --------------+------+----------------+------
    Total value |  ... |      ...       |$24.18
  --------------+------+----------------+------

YIELD IN CASINGS FROM TWENTY CATTLE.

  ======================+====+=================+======
                        | Per|                 |
                        |cent|                 |Total
         Product        |used|      Value      |Value
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------
  19 sets rounds        |  95|$0.14    per set |$2.66
   7 sets middles       |  35|  .50    per set | 3.50
  20 pcs. bungs         | 100|  .11    each    | 2.20
  15 pcs. bung gut skins|  75|  .01¹⁄₄ each    |   .19
   8 pcs. weasands      |  40|  .05    each    |  .40
   9 pcs. bladders      |  45|  .30    per doz.|  .22
  11 lbs. weasand meat  | ...|  .01    per lb. |  .11
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------
    Total value         | ...|       ...       |$9.28
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------

The yield in blood from twenty cattle was 8.35 pounds per head of dry
blood; total, 167 pounds; value at the rate of $33.00 per ton, equals
$2.75.

Yield in sinews of twenty cattle was two pounds per head, total weight
40 pounds; value at the rate of $19.00 per ton, equals 38c.

YIELD FROM HEADS AND FEET OF TWENTY CATTLE.

  ================+=====+=====+===================+======+=======
                  |     | Wt. |                   |      |
                  |Total| per |                   |      | Value
                  | wt.,|head,|                   |      |  per
  Product         | lbs.| lbs.|       Price       |Amount|  head
  ----------------+-----+-----+-------------------+------+-------
  Skulls          |  84 | 4.20| $18.00    per ton | $0.75|$0.0375
  Jaws            |  46 | 2.30|  18.00    per ton |   .41|  .0205
  Knuckles        |  69 | 3.45|  18.00    per ton |   .62|  .0310
  Hoofs           |  43 | 2.15|  22.00    per ton |   .47|  .0235
  No. 1 r’nd shins|  25 | 1.25|  42.00    per ton |   .53|  .0245
  Flat shins      |  20 | 1.00|  30.00    per ton |   .30|  .0150
  No. 1 tallow    | 165 | 8.25|    .06³⁄₄ per lb. | 11.13|  .5568
  Neatsfoot oil   |  32 | 1.60|    .64    per gal.|  2.72|  .1360
  Tankage         |  72 | 3.60|  16.00    per ton |   .58|  .0290
  ----------------+-----+-----+-------------------+------+-------
    Totals        | ... | ... |        ...        |$17.52|$0.8760
  ----------------+-----+-----+-------------------+------+-------

The fat from twenty cattle produced a yield in oleo stock of

                   { 1,265 lbs. No. 1 stock  =  81.51 per cent.
  1,552 lbs. fat = {   215 lbs. scrap tallow =  13.85 per cent.
                   {    72 lbs. waste        =   4.64 per cent.
                                               100.00 per cent.

The above 1,265 pounds of stock showed the following yield in oleo oil
and stearine:

YIELD IN OLEO AND STEARINE.

  =================+======+=======+=========+=======
                   |  Per |Weight,|  Price  |
       Product     | cent |  lbs. | per lb. | Value
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------
  No. 1 oil        | 79.37| 1,004 | $0.11   |$110.44
  No. 1 stearine   | 20.08|   254 |   .14   |  35.56
  Waste in pressing|   .55|  ...  |  ...    |   ...
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------
    Totals         |100.00| 1,258 |  ...    |$146.00
  -----------------+------+-------+---------+-------

The total value of the offal of above twenty cattle, including the
tallow, was $203.61, an average per head of $10.1805.

=Yield from Thirty-Four Cattle.=--The following table shows the yield
in beef, hides and tallow and the value of offal of thirty-four cattle:

PERCENTAGE OF YIELD IN BEEF, HIDES AMD TALLOW.

  ===============+=======+============+=======+=====
                 |Weight,|            |Weight,|  Per
     Product     |  lbs. |  Averages  |  lbs. | cent
  ---------------+-------+------------+-------+-----
  Live weight    | 42,350|Average     |1259   | ...
  Dressed weight | 25,563|Average     | 751   |60.36
  Shipping weight| 25,067|Shrinkage   |  ...  | 1.98
  Hides weight   |  3,027|    ...     |  89.00| 7.10
  Total fat      |  2,666|Fat per head|  78.41| 6.30
  ---------------+-------+------------+-------+-----

YIELD FROM TRIMMINGS OF THIRTY-FOUR CATTLE.

  ==============+=======+================+======
                |Weight,|                |Total
     Product    |  lbs. |     Value      |Value
  --------------+-------+----------------+------
  34 tongues    |  263  |$0.55    each   |$18.70
  34 livers     |  425  |  .35    each   | 11.90
  34 hearts     |  173  |  .07    each   |  2.38
  34 tails      |   49  |  .03¹⁄₂ each   |  1.19
  Cheek meat    |  185  |  .03    per lb.|  5.55
  Head meat     |   32  |  .03    per lb.|   .96
  Fine meat     |   19  |  .03    per lb.|   .57
  Head trimmings|   26  |  .03    per lb.|   .78
  --------------+-------+----------------+------
    Total value |  ...  |       ...      |$42.03
  --------------+-------+----------------+------

YIELD FROM CASINGS OF THIRTY-FOUR CATTLE.

  ======================+====+=================+======
                        | Per|                 |
                        |cent|                 | Total
         Product        |used|      Value      | Value
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------
  34 sets rounds        | 100|$0.14    set     | $4.76
  13 sets middles       |  38|  .50    set     |  6.50
  34 pcs. bungs         | 100|  .11    each    |  3.74
  32 pcs. bung gut skins|  94|  .01¹⁄₄ each    |   .40
  30 pcs. weasands      |  88|  .05    each    |  1.50
  25 pcs. bladders      |  74|  .30    per doz.|   .63
  10 lbs. weasand meat  |  20|  .01    per lb. |   .20
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------
    Total value         | ...|      ...        |$17.73
  ----------------------+----+-----------------+------

The yield in sweetbreads of same thirty-four cattle was 29 pieces,
weighing nine pounds, valued at 20c per pound; total value of $1.80.
The yield in tripe was 34 pieces, weighing 710 pounds, valued at ¹⁄₂c
per pound; total value, $5.35.

The yield in tank room of same thirty-four cattle was 2,665 pounds
green weight to tanks, the average per head being 78.38 pounds.

Yield in blood of same thirty-four cattle was as follows: 8.6 pounds
per head of dry blood; total, 292 pounds; value at the rate of $33.00
per ton equals $4.82.

The yield in sinews of thirty-four cattle was 1.44 pounds per head;
total weight, 49 pounds; value at the rate of $19.00 per ton equals 46c.

The fat from the thirty-four cattle showed the following yield in oleo
stock:

                   { 2,189 lbs. No. 1 stock  =  82.11 per cent.
  2,666 lbs. fat = {   383 lbs. scrap tallow =  14.37 per cent.
                   {    94 lbs. waste        =   3.52 per cent.
                                               100.00 per cent.

The above 2,189 pounds of stock showed the following yield in oleo oil
and stearine:

YIELD IN OLEO AND STEARINE.

  =================+======+=======+=====+=======
                   |      |       |Price|
                   |  Per |Weight,| per |
       Product     | cent | pounds| lb. | Value
  -----------------+------+-------+-----+-------
  No. 1 oil        | 78.04| 1,708 |$0.11|$187.88
  No. 1 stearine   | 21.06|   461 |  .14|  64.54
  Waste in pressing|   .90|    20 | ... |   ...
  -----------------+------+-------+-----+-------
    Totals         |100.00| 2,189 | ... |$252.42
  -----------------+------+-------+-----+-------

The total value of the offal of these thirty-four cattle, including the
tallow, was $356.80; an average per head of $10.497.

The foregoing records of tests will show the reader the actual value
of the by-products figured at the time these tests were made. Owing
to changes in the market prices, these figures are not correct for
present conditions, but the percentage of yield and different items
are correct, and the reader can take any one of these tests and by
substituting the market prices of today obtain figures of value.

These tests also give the percentage of the hide and tallow. The
latter, as will be noted, is quite high, as it will be seen that the
tests were made on a fairly fat grade of cattle.

=Percentage of Various Cuts of Beef.=--Nearly every large city has
its special ways and peculiarities of cutting meats, consequently the
percentage of the different cuts varies largely. The following table
is a record of results from a cutting test and shows the percentage of
“Chicago cut” meat with square cut chucks:

                       Per
    Chicago Cuts--    Cent.
  Chucks              28.00
  Rounds              23.00
  Navels               8.00
  Flanks               2.00
  Flank steaks          .50
  Kidney                .25
  Ribs                10.00
  Loins               15.00
  No. 2 suet            .50
  No. 1 suet           3.00
  Shanks               4.00
  Brisket              5.00
  Necks                 .75
                    -------
                     100.00

The following table shows percentage on cattle cut Chicago style, with
the exception of a “Kosher chuck” the latter consisting of five-rib,
four-quarter cut-off from the side of the beef:

                                 Per
    New York Cuts (Natives)--   Cent.
  Ribs                           9.55
  Loins                         15.74
  Flanks                         5.55
  Navels                         8.61
  Suet                           3.62
  Rounds                        23.27
  New York chucks               33.66
                               100.00

The following table shows the percentage on cattle cut Philadelphia
style:

                                               Per
    Philadelphia Cuts--                       Cent.
  Rump and round                              34.00
  Rattler (chuck, plate, brisket and shank)   44.00
  Ribs and loins                              22.00
                                             100.00

The following table gives the result of tests and shows in detail
the percentages in cutting canner cattle. As will be understood, for
canning purposes, a light grade of animals is always used; cattle that
are too light or too thin are always used for other purposes. In such
cases the meats are always boned-out and the different cuts of the meat
are here enumerated, showing their percentages:

                              Per
      Packing House Cuts--   Cent.
  Sirloin butts              3.903
  Strips                     4.204
  Tenderloins                2.552
  Boneless chucks           13.813
  Rolls                      2.552
  Plates                    12.162
  Insides                    7.957
  Outsides                   5.555
  Knuckles                   5.555
  Clods                      5.105
  Rump butts                 2.402
  Flank steak                 .600
  Hanging tenderloin          .450
  Front shanks               7.207
  Hind shanks                4.650
  Soft bones                 6.906
  Trimmings                  8.108
  Tallow                     4.519
  Kidneys                     .600
                            100.00

=Explanatory.=--Part of the data following and quoted in this chapter
is from an excellent bulletin issued by the University of Illinois
Agricultural Experiment Station, by Louis D. Hall. This is so clearly
expressed and well illustrated that nothing need be added to the
subject. The same is true regarding data shown on mutton and on hogs.

=Beef Cuts.=--“Wholesale fresh beef” trade is about equally divided
between carcass beef and beef cuts. The latter are sold both as
“straight cuts” and as subdivisions thereof. The “straight cuts”
handled in Chicago markets are Loins, Ribs, Rounds, Chucks, Plates,
Flanks and Shanks (Fig. 44). The loin is separated from the round at
the hip joint. The flank is cut from about the middle of the thirteenth
rib to the opposite lower corner of the loin. The shank is sawed off
just below the second knuckle (shoulder joint). The plate is cut off on
a line extending from about the middle of the twelfth rib through the
point at which the shank is removed. The rib and chuck are separated
between the fifth and sixth ribs.

[Illustration: FIG. 44.--CHICAGO BEEF CUTS.

  1, 2, 3.              Round
  4, 5, 6.              Loin
  7.                    Rib
  8.                    Chuck
  9.                    Flank
  10, 11.               Plate
  12.                   Shank
  13.                   Suet
  1.                    Hind shank
  2.                    Round, R. & S. off
  3.                    Rump
  4, 5.                 Loin end
  6.                    Pinbone loin
  5, 6.                 Flatbone loin
  10.                   Navel
  11.                   Brisket
  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9.  Hind quarter
  7, 8, 10, 11, 12.     Fore quarter
  7, 8.                 Back
  7, 10.                Piece
  8, 11, 12.            Kosher chuck
  8, 10, 11, 12.        Triangle
  a.                    Aitch-bone
  b.                    Rump-bone
  c.                    Crotch
  d.                    Cod
  e.                    Chine-bones
  f.                    “Buttons”
  g.                    Skirt
  h.                    Breast-bone]

The standard grades of straight cuts are No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. Cuts
that are too deficient in thickness and quality to be used on the
butcher’s block, and which are consequently made into boneless cuts,
barreled beef, sausage, etc., are termed “strippers.”

=Diagram of Cutting.=--The page illustrating a diagram of cutting shows
the “Chicago” method of dividing the animal if cut for sale.

=Grading.=--“Weight affects the grade of a beef cut about the same as
in grading a carcass. No. 1 cuts are principally from choice and prime
800 to 1,000-pound native steer carcasses and choice 750 to 900-pound
native cows; No. 2’s are largely from medium and good 650 to 800-pound
steers and 600 to 750-pound cows; and No. 3’s are made chiefly from 450
to 600-pound common and medium cows, also from Texas and light Western
steers. Stripper cuts are made from canners, medium and common bulls,
Texas and common light Western cattle.

AVERAGE WEIGHTS OF STRAIGHT BEEF CUTS (POUNDS)

  Grade     Loins  Ribs Rounds Chucks Plates Flanks Shanks
  No. 1     50-85 30-50 75-110 75-110  40-80  15-20  10-20
  No. 2     40-60 25-35 60-80  60-80   30-50  10-15   5-10
  No. 3     25-40 20-25 40-60  40-60   20-35   5-10   5-10
  Strippers 20-30 15-20 30-40  30-40   15-20   5-10   5-10

=Loins.=--“The loin is the highest-priced cut of the carcass because
of the tenderness and quality of the lean. The grade of a loin may be
determined by marked excellence or deficiency in either thickness,
covering or quality, or by a uniform degree of development in all
respects. _No. 1’s_ must have a full, well-rounded shape, a complete
covering of white fat, the thickness of which is in proper proportion
to the lean, and bright, firm, fine-grained, well-marbled flesh. _No.
2’s_ are generally less rounded in form, with insufficient, excessive,
or uneven covering and a slight deficiency in grain, marbling or color
of flesh; while _No. 3’s_ are more flat in shape, nearly or entirely
lacking in covering of fat and very deficient in thickness and quality
of flesh, but sufficiently developed to be cut into porterhouse and
sirloin steaks for cheap trade (Fig. 45). Stripper loins have no
outside fat and are usually extremely flat and rough in shape, with
dark-colored, coarse-grained flesh, and hard, white bone.

[Illustration: FIG. 45.--A. FLAT BONE LOINS, NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3
GRADES. B. REGULAR LOINS, NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3 GRADES.]

[Illustration: FIG. 46.--RIBS, NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3 GRADES. A. FRONT.
B. REAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 47.--ROUNDS, NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3 GRADES.]

[Illustration: FIG. 48.--CHUCKS, NO. 1, NO. 2 AND NO. 3 GRADES. (ABOVE,
REAR VIEW. BELOW, SIDE VIEW.)]

=Ribs.=--“This cut, which includes the portion between the loin and
chuck, contains the best roasts. The poorer quality of ribs are boned
and make ‘the roll.’ A ‘regular roll’ consists of the lean part of the
rib with backbone removed and shoulder blade fat cut away. ‘Spencer’
rolls are of the same type, except that the covering is left on the
lean, exclusive of that over blade bone, which is removed.

=Rounds.=--“The cut surface of the full round is identical with the
butt end of the corresponding loin. Cuts of various types of rounds are
shown in Fig. 47. An excess of rounds under average conditions makes it
necessary to divide the rounds further into rump butts used for corn
beef; beef hams used for dried beef, and shanks for sausage meat.

“In stripping a bullock for beef hams, it is divided into three parts,
known as a set, viz., inside, outside, and knuckle pieces.

=Chucks.=--“The style of cutting shown in Fig. 48 is known as the
square chuck, and is the style most used in Chicago wholesale markets.
Chucks are sometimes cut ‘knuckle out’ by removing the shank with a
knife at the second knuckle instead of sawing off below the joint. The
lower grades of chucks are often further divided in order to make the
cut more saleable. Such cuts are the shoulder clod and boneless chuck.
The shoulder clod is a wedge-shaped piece cut from the fleshy part of
the chuck just back of the shoulder blade, and extending from the elbow
of the shank nearly or quite to the backbone. It is taken mainly from
_No. 3_ and ‘stripper’ cuts, and to a small extent from _No. 1’s_ and
_2’s_. It is a boneless cut weighing six to fifteen pounds, and sells
from 10 to 20 per cent above chuck quotations.”

A “kosher” chuck consists of the square chuck, shank, brisket and neck
in one piece, the forequarter with rib and navel piece off.

=Plates, Shanks, and Flanks.=--“These are usually boned and the parts
used in sausage department and bonehouse, except in the heavier cuts of
plates and flanks, which are used in mess beef.

=Barreled Beef.=--“The demand for barreled beef is a receding item in
packing house usage. Formerly it was a large item. The quotation gives
the grading and naming:

[Illustration: FIG. 49.--A, BEEF HAMS (LEFT, “INSIDE”; CENTER,
“OUTSIDE”; RIGHT, “KNUCKLE”). B, TENDERLOIN. C, SHOULDER CLOD.]

“_Extra India Mess Beef_ is made from heavy fat _No. 1_ plates weighing
65 to 80 pounds, cut into pieces of about eight pounds average and
packed in tierces or barrels. It is the highest grade of barreled beef
and is sold largely through British markets for army and navy use.
Fulton Market Beef is of the same quality as Extra India, but from 60
to 70 pound plates, and is usually put up in half barrels or tubs for
domestic trade. These and the two following grades of plate beef are
usually packed with the lower side of the brisket piece removed.

“_Extra Plate (Extra Family) Beef_ is cut from moderately fat _No. 1_
plates (50 to 60 pounds), and packed like Extra India. It is exported
principally to various countries in northern Europe.

“_Regular Plate or Family Beef_ consists of _No. 2_ plates (40 to 50
pounds), with a good proportion of fat and lean, cut into pieces of six
to eight pounds and packed the same as Extra India. It is also sold
largely in northern European countries.

“_Packet Beef_ is made from 30 to 40-pound plates (heavy _No. 3’s_ and
light _No. 2’s_) cut the same as other grades of plate beef. It is
used throughout Europe, the West Indies, Central and South America.

“_Common Plate Beef_ is made from _No. 3_ plates, 20 to 30 pounds
average, cut and packed as explained above. It is the lowest grade or
barreled plate beef. This grade, also Prime Mess and Extra Mess Beef,
is sold to the same trade as Packet Beef.

[Illustration: FIG. 50.--SHANKS. NO. 1 GRADE, NO. 2 GRADE, NO. 3 GRADE.
CLOD ON.]

“_Rolled Boneless Beef_ (Rolled Beef or Rollettes) consists of plates
with a portion of the brisket cut off, the remainder of plate being
boned, rolled and wound with twine. It is made from _No. 2_ and _No.
3_ plates of 25 to 40 pounds average. The rolls weigh eight to twelve
pounds and are cured in mild brine.

“_Prime Mess Beef_ consists of about 100 pounds of plates and 100
pounds of chucks, rumps and flanks per barrel cut into pieces of six to
nine pounds. The proportions of the cuts named are varied according to
demands and may contain 100 pounds of chucks with the remainder plates,
flanks and rumps, or as otherwise specified. This grade is made from
heavy _No. 3_ and light _No. 2_ cuts.

“_Extra Mess Beef_ contains the same assortment of cuts as Prime Mess,
but is made only from _No. 3_ cuts.

“_Ramp Butt Beef_ is cut from rumps off the medium and lower grades
of rounds, and is boneless except a small piece of tail-bone. The
pieces average four to six pounds each. It is sold largely in lumbering
districts and to the fisheries trade.”

CHAPTER XI

HIDES AND PELTS.

  GREEN HIDES -- CONDITION -- SCORES -- PROD POLE DAMAGE -- CLEAN
  FLOORS -- LEATHER YIELDS -- PATTERN -- PROPER STORAGE FOR HIDES --
  GRADING -- GRUBS IN HIDES -- SALT TO BE USED -- BUILDING OF PACKS OF
  HIDES -- TRIMMING OF GREEN HIDES -- SWITCHES -- SHRINKAGE OF HIDES --
  SHEEP PELTS.

=Green Hides.=--Next in value to the beef is the hide and the handling,
curing, etc., of this particular part of the animal, until it is ready
to be delivered requires careful attention to obtain the best results.
For convenience in handling green hides a special hide truck, shown in
Fig. 51, is usually employed. The platform of the truck is 3¹⁄₂ × 5¹⁄₂
feet, with a 1¹⁄₄ inch hardwood plank eight inches high on one side and
on front end. The wheels are about eighteen inches in diameter.

[Illustration: FIG. 51.--HIDE TRUCK FOR CARTING BEEF HIDES.]

=Condition.=--The first consideration, of course, is the condition of
the hide. There has been marked improvement in recent years in the
handling of hides. Formerly, where unskilled workmen were killing only
a few cattle daily, or weekly, they did not become proficient in the
removal of hides and the hide was more or less damaged by scores and
cuts. When cattle are killed in large numbers it is necessary to make
a division of labor, and instead of one man doing many parts of the
work, he simply does one part continuously, and hence becomes very
skillful; the “take-off” of the hide, particularly, is improved. That
this condition is appreciated by tanners is evidenced by the difference
in price paid for country and packers hides; the tanners paying from
³⁄₄c to 1c more per pound for packers hides because the hide has been
properly taken off, while a country hide, which is usually taken off
by workmen less skilled has been cut and scored, the scores being
particularly objectionable.

=Scores.=--A score in a hide is made by cutting into it when removing,
far enough to damage the grain of the leather, and when it comes from
the tannery, scores show very plainly and in many cases one-half of
the thickness of the leather is lost by this defect. Hides taken off
properly, should not show these imperfections, in fact, should be as
smooth as though slipped off the animal, were that possible, instead
of by a knife, and with skilled workmanship such is the case. One
man doing one particular operation continuously, the “take-off” of
hides has been so improved that less than ten hides out of a thousand
are found to be “No. 2” quality when taken out of the cellar in a
well-regulated house.

The “take-off” of the hides particularly should be watched by the
killing foreman and the workmen’s attention drawn to the slightest
defects continuously, as much depends upon the reputation a house
may have for its take-off. Many of the small scores which are found
to materially damage the hide when tanned are invisible when the
hide is taken out of the packer’s cellar, as owing to discoloration,
salt, etc., it is impossible to see many of them, but they are all
visible when the leather is turned out. Consequently, if a house has
a reputation for bad “take-off,” buyers usually aim to buy the hides
from a plant with a good take-off. Hence it will be seen that in this
particular department it means a great deal to have a good reputation
for “take-off.”

[Illustration: FIG. 52.--DIAGRAM OF HIDES.]

=Prod Pole Damage--Clean Floors.=--Outside of the “take-off” there are
several other points which should be watched carefully on the killing
floor in the handling of this particular article. The hides should not
be damaged with prod poles by the men handling cattle in the pens. The
floors should be kept as clean as possible, especially where the cattle
are thrown out of the knocking pens, as blood is very objectionable
on the hides. It is liable to cause decomposition when the hide is in
pack, and if it does sufficiently for the hair to slip on the hides,
it becomes a “No. 2.” Another bad feature is that a bloody hide will
discolor the flesh side of the skin next to it in pack, and it is
always advisable to get the hides out as bright and clean as possible,
as buyers prefer them so.

Another reason why they should be kept as dry as possible is that
the hides are weighed as taken off for general record and also for
estimating the cost of the beef. If the hides are allowed to get wet
they will absorb four or five pounds per hide, which if deducted from
the calculations, will represent a false credit of 40c or 50c per
head on the cattle. It is best to keep them as dry as possible, so
that weights used for figuring and record purposes may be accurate.
If the hides go into the packs excessively wet, when shipped, they
will necessarily show an excess shrinkage from green to cured weights,
causing confusion as to actual shrinkage.

=Leather Yields.=--While it is advisable to have hides carry as much
moisture as is acceptable to the buyer, it is not profitable to
have them too wet, as the buyers watch such matters and if a lot of
hides from a certain house do not show the yield in leather which
they should, purchases made after that from such a house are made
proportionate to the yield, hence the additional weight that may be
gained is more than lost in the price realized. There is a happy medium
to be sought in this matter where the seller gets all that he is
entitled to and the buyer is satisfied with the yield he obtains.

=Pattern.=--The diagram, Fig. 52, shows the pattern of a packing house
hide and, as nearly as can be indicated on paper, it shows the part
removed by each workman.

=Proper Storage for Hides.=--This is a point usually not given due
consideration, some packers reasoning that as long as their hides are
in a building, little else is to be considered. The following figures
which are accurate, will give the reader an idea of the loss that lack
of attention in this particular matter may represent. It will be noted
that the test extends over a period of one year, representing a test on
a total of 198,341 hides.

A total of 87,587 hides were cured in house _No. 1_, which consists
of a cellar under refrigerated rooms. While no attempt was made to
refrigerate this room there was a natural radiation to the floor above
which held the temperature at from 55° to 60° F. in hot weather. There
were but two openings in the cellar and naturally little circulation
of air, hence the moisture of the cellar was retained and the hides
show a shrinkage of 14.74 per cent from the green weight on bed to
shipping weight.

SHRINKAGE OF HIDES FOR YEAR ENDING AUG. 1, 1903, IN HOUSE NO. 1.

  =================+======+=========+=========+=========+=======
                   |      |         |         |         |Shrink-
                   |      |         |         | Shrink- |  age,
                   |      |  Green  |  Cured  |   age,  |  per
       Kind        |Number|  weight |  weight |   lbs.  |  cent
  -----------------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
  Free of brands   |41,870|3,328,133|2,842,542|  485,591| 15.59
  Butt brands      | 6,087|  507,684|  432,722|   74,962| 14.77
  Side brands      |13,190|1,078,959|  927,835|  151,124| 14.06
  Spreadies        | 2,376|  215,676|  190,286|   25,390| 11.79
  Texas            |11,285|  871,573|  731,165|  140,408| 16.11
  H’y native cows  | 8,029|  592,338|  500,935|   91,403| 15.43
  Light native cows| 2,759|  150,995|  127,108|   23,887| 15.82
  Branded cows     | 1,991|  128,269|  107,563|   20,706| 16.14
  -----------------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
    Totals         |87,587|6,873,627|5,860,156|1,013,471| 14.74
  -----------------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------

SHRINKAGE OF HIDES FOR YEAR ENDING AUG. 1, 1903, IN HOUSE NO. 2.

  ===============+=======+=========+=========+=========+=======
                 |       |         |         |         |Shrink-
                 |       |         |         | Shrink- |  age,
                 |       |  Green  |  Cured  |   age,  |  per
       Kind      | Number|  weight |  weight |   lbs.  |  cent
  ---------------+-------+---------+---------+---------+-------
  Free of brands | 34,192|2,692,615|2,262,426|  430,189| 15.98
  Butt brands    | 14,279|1,174,093|  977,943|  196,150| 16.71
  Side brands    | 17,302|1,451,850|1,198,925|  252,925| 17.42
  Spreadies      |  3,969|  363,233|  307,410|   55,823| 15.37
  Native bulls   |  1,362|  127,910|  103,263|   24,627| 19.27
  Branded bulls  |    252|   25,885|   21,761|    4,124| 15.93
  H’y native cows|  8,222|  576,313|  472,938|  103,375| 17.94
  Texas          |  5,247|  395,620|  324,100|   71,520| 18.08
  L’t native cows| 14,895|  841,481|  709,181|  132,300| 15.72
  Branded cows   | 11,034|  694,503|  574,669|  119,834| 17.25
  ---------------+-------+---------+---------+---------+-------
      Totals     |110,754|8,343,503|6,952,616|1,390,867| 16.67
  ---------------+-------+---------+---------+---------+-------

A total of 110,754 of these hides were cured in house _No. 2_. This
was on the first floor of the building and no refrigeration was used
in any of the departments. There were several openings into this
room, permitting the outside air to circulate through the building
and a great deal of moisture naturally absorbed. It will be noted by
comparing the reports that the shrinkage in this cellar was 16.67 per
cent from the green weight to the shipping weight, showing an excess
of 1.83 per cent, which would show a loss of 154,686 pounds. This,
at an average of 10c per pound, would indicate a loss of $15,468.60
sustained by having this number of hides in this particular cellar, as
against what would have been realized had they shown no more shrinkage
than those in house _No. 1_, so that it will readily be seen that it is
of vital importance to the owner to see that the hides are stored in
suitable storage, that there is as little circulation as possible of
outside air through this department, and that all doors and openings
are kept closed as much as possible. This is paramount, in case hides
are sold, seller’s weights, at works. On long shipments involving many
transfers and exposures, the matter is not of such consequence.

=Grading.=--This is a question which must be governed largely by the
local conditions. Many small killers find it profitable to sell their
hides without selections, rather than to try to make the different
selections with a comparatively limited number to select from, whereas,
where cattle are killed in large numbers it is advisable to make just
as many selections as is profitable, being governed, of course, at all
times by the market quotations and demands. The usual grades of hides
are termed as follows:

_Natives._--Native steer hides are hides from native steers which
are free of brands. Another selection of natives is what is called
“spreadies,” which are hides taken from native cattle free of brands,
cuts, scores, or grubs and must be six feet four inches wide at the
shoulders.

_Texas._--This is the term used to designate all hides taken off
southern cattle where the hide is very thick and heavy. Brands are not
taken into consideration on these selections.

_Butt Brands._--These are either natives or western hides which are
branded on the butts.

_Colorados._--These are hides from the western cattle, which are too
thin for Texas and are branded on the sides.

A distinction is also made in all these hides as to weights, sixty-one
pounds and up being heavy, sixty pounds and below being light and fifty
pounds and below being extra light.

Cow hides are selected as natives and branded cows; bull hides as
natives and branded bulls. While all bull hides are not sold as such,
hides with a thick neck or pate are sold under this term.

=Grubs in Hides.=--There are two cattle “bot-flies” or “warble-flies,”
as they are often termed. One of these (_Hypoderma lineata_) is found
in the United States, being found more frequently in the southern part
of the country. The adult is about the size of a honey bee. The female
deposits her eggs in summer in the region of the heel of the animal,
causing very much discomfort. In licking the irritated spot the eggs
are taken into the mouth of the animal and hatched, the larvae entering
the esophagus or gullet and finally working their way into the cellular
tissue beneath the skin of the back. In early spring they develop,
forming lumps known as “warbles,” and become what are known as “grubs.”
After working their way through the skin they drop to the ground, into
which they burrow and pupate, finally emerging as adult flies. The
damage caused by these insects to the hides amounts to millions of
dollars per year, as in general practice five grub holes constitute a
“No. 2” hide, on which there is a deduction of one cent per pound.

According to the rules of the trade, Texas and branded cows are grubbed
from November 1 to June 1, Colorados are grubbed from December 1 to
June 1, native steers, native bulls and native cows are grubbed from
January 1 to June 1. No allowance is made after June 1 for grubs in
hides taken off after that date.

=Salt To Be Used.=--The kind of salt generally used in large plants
for this purpose is a rock salt, which is a mined product run through
crushers and screens. Large lumps are more or less objectionable and if
allowed to be used will injure the appearance of the hide. Hides in a
pack weigh very heavily per cubic foot and the lower hides are subject
to a considerable pressure, or weight. Large lumps of salt between the
hides in the pack make bad looking indentations, although they do not
necessarily injure the hides for tanning purposes.

Three parts of rock salt and one part of fine salt make a very good
combination. The fine salt quickly forms a moisture which the hides
will absorb, preventing quite a perceptible shrinkage as shown by
careful tests. When a pack of hides is taken up the “second salt” is
saved and by using one-third new with two-thirds of old salt it can be
used over. It will be found that this addition of new salt about makes
up for the loss in salt that is dissolved in the pack during the curing
process.

Salt for the hides should be kept clean. If there is a great deal of
manure and dirt mixed with the salt, it discolors the hides, injuring
their appearance. When the salt is found to be dirty and out of
condition it is advisable to screen it, using a screen same as is
used for screening sand. The salt is thrown against the screen, the
finer salt will sift through and the coarser salt, dirt, etc., will
gather at the bottom of the screen. Salt that has been through the
screen will be found comparatively clean and ready for use; that which
has not passed through should be washed. While this will dissolve a
considerable amount of it, it will, at the same time, wash out most
of the impurities. If handled in the above manner, a careful workman
should be able to salt hides with from thirty-one to thirty-five pounds
of salt per hide.

=Building of Packs of Hides.=--Packing hides is an operation which
should receive close and careful attention. In the building of the
pack, the outer edges should be kept high all the way around, so that
the center of the pack will hold liquid. When the pack is finished it
should be leveled off at the top so that it will be as near even as
possible. The natural moisture in the hides, together with the salt,
will form a liquor which the hides absorb, and if the pack is built
slanting, so as to allow the liquid to pass off, it will be found
that the hides are continuously drawing on the sides, and when they
are taken up the shrinkage from green weights will be considerably in
excess of those from packs properly built.

=Trimming of Green Hides.=--Before the hides are packed they should be
examined for brands, etc., and be distributed to their proper packs,
according to assortment. The switch is cut off from the tail, any
loose ends of the hides are trimmed off and the ears split. Unless
this is done, it makes an uneven pack on account of the thickness of
the ears; furthermore the salt does not have a chance to penetrate the
ears and they are liable to spoil. Any loose pieces of meat that the
butchers may have left on the hide should be taken off, as well as any
excess amount of fat. The hides after being trimmed should be allowed
to lay for three to five hours to cool. If the hides are put into the
pack without doing this, it is likely that, when the pack is taken
up, some hides will be found on which the hair has slipped; these are
necessarily No. 2 hides, and as the uniform rule is 1c per pound less
for No. 2’s than for No. 1’s, it will show a loss of approximately 50c
to 60c per hide. Another bad feature of having “slip-hides” is the fact
that if the buyer finds them at all, he is always suspicious that there
are others in the pack which are out of condition, that he has not
seen, and that they will come out of the tannery with unsatisfactory
results.

When hides are put in the pack, extreme care should be used to see
that _every part_ of the hide is exposed to salt. The legs should
be straightened out flat and the pates thoroughly spread, so that
the salt may reach every part. Hides should lie in pack and salt for
from twenty-five to thirty days before they are fully cured. At the
expiration of this time they are ready for shipment, and are taken out
of salt, inspected and each one rolled into a bundle and tied.

=Switches.=--The switches should be spread out on the floor and given
a thorough chance to cool off, when they are thrown into a pack by
themselves and heavily salted. They should be watched closely, as there
is unavoidably considerable blood and moisture in them, and if any sign
of heating is found they should be overhauled and resalted.

=Shrinkage of Hides.=--No set rule can be made as to how much hides
will actually shrink, but if the foregoing directions are followed
closely and intelligently the shrinkage may be kept at the minimum,
which will usually range from 12 to 15 per cent. This is governed
largely, as before stated, by the amount of water which the hides take
up on the killing floor, which if weighed with the hide will nearly all
seep out when put into the packs and cause an excess shrinkage from the
original green weights. Further the storage has a great deal to do with
it, but if proper care is taken the shrinkage should be kept within the
figures given.

=Sheep Pelts.=--The handling of sheep pelts, especially in hot weather,
requires careful attention. The pelts, as soon as taken off, should
be spread out in a room where it is as cold as possible without being
refrigerated, and allowed to cool off for at least twelve hours before
salting. This is especially necessary when the animal slaughtered has
a very heavy fleece; with shearlings there is little or no necessity
for taking this precaution. Fleece skins, however, hold the heat, so
that when put into a pack and salted, if not properly cooled, they soon
begin to warm and decompose, and as soon as the wool slips, the leather
of the skin is ruined.

After the pelts have been spread out and allowed to thoroughly chill,
as suggested, they should be salted in piles not to exceed thirty
inches high by putting one skin on top of another, flesh side up, and
using a fine solar salt, care being taken that they are thoroughly
salted around the heads and leggings. After they have been in salt
for a week, it is well, especially in warm weather, to overhaul them,
shifting the packs so that when through, the top pelts are on the
bottom and vice versa. After they have lain in salt for two weeks they
are ready for shipment.

CHAPTER XII

OLEO OIL AND STEARINE.

  FATS -- ORIGIN OF BUTTERINE -- OLEO OIL -- OLEO FATS -- SELECTION AND
  CARE -- CLEANLINESS AND COLLECTION -- CHILLING FAT -- COOLING WATER
  -- MELTING -- SETTLING THE OIL -- CLARIFIERS -- SCRAP VAT -- SEEDING
  OR GRAINING OIL -- PRESS ROOM -- COLLECTING OIL -- OIL RECEIVERS --
  TEMPERATURE OF OIL DRAWN TO TIERCE -- STEARINE -- OIL HOUSE YIELDS --
  GRADING FATS -- TESTS ON OIL FATS -- BUTCHER FATS -- MUTTON FAT --
  OIL SELECTION -- OIL HOUSE OPERATION.

=Fats.=--The largest item of value in slaughtered cattle is the beef.
As already stated, the second largest item is hides. The third item in
value is fats. It has been one of the world’s staple articles of trade
for centuries and is made use of in the manufacture of many kinds of
articles for man’s use, from those of comfort to those of destruction,
perhaps only displaced in its multitude of uses by the one raw product,
coal tar.

=Origin of Butterine.=--Prior to the Franco-Prussian war, or in
1871, fats were used almost exclusively for soap making and other
manufacturing purposes, comparatively little of it being used for food
purposes. During the siege of Paris a reward was offered to anyone who
would find a substitute for butter. A French scientist reasoned as
follows: Careful observation teaches that a cow that is fat and in good
health makes better butter and more butter than one of the same quality
that is poor and emaciated, hence it must follow the cream of the milk,
or the “butter-fat,” is in reality nothing more or less than Nature’s
surplus fat in the animal, and that in all cattle that are fed each
day more than the requirements to build up the broken-down tissues a
surplus fat is deposited. This fat, the chemist decided, was as much a
natural butter as though it had been skimmed from milk, and starting on
this theory originated the manufacture of oleomargarine.

=Result of Investigation.=--The creating of this industry has meant
millions of dollars to this country in returns that have been made from
the sale of fats prepared into oil for manufacturing oleomargarine
instead of being melted into tallow for soap making and other purposes.

=Oleo Oil.=--Oleo oil is the name of one of the principal ingredients
used in making oleomargarine, or imitation butter. The fat is put
through a hasher, which thoroughly disintegrates it, cutting the tissue
so that the oil is made free when heated.

=Oleo Fats.=--The fats used for the manufacture of oleo oil are usually
all the fats removed when the animal is slaughtered, including the
“caul” fat or that fat surrounding the “omentum”; the ruffle fat, which
is that fat surrounding the intestines, and to which the “runners” or
round gut is attached; the heart casing, and fats attached.

=Selection and Care.=--It is reasonable to suppose that all of these
fats are of the same quality, but in the handling of this, during the
course of slaughtering and treatment thereof, some of it necessarily
becomes unfit for oleo oil purposes, and is used in tallow. The amount
used for tallow is regulated by the care and intelligence of the men
in charge, and if properly handled a very small percentage of the fat
in the animal should find its way to the tank house, as it nets much
better results when put into oleo oil, as will be noted from the tests
hereafter submitted.

=Cleanliness and Collection.=--The fats, as rapidly as removed from the
animal, should be taken quickly in clean utensils and washed in medium
temperature water to remove any blood present. Thorough chilling of the
fat is a very essential feature in making oleo oil. In order that this
may be done it is necessary that the fat be cut in small pieces, so
that the cold water can get at every part of it. A machine illustrated
in Fig. 53 is used for cutting the fat before passing it into the cold
water. The water is circulated by the use of a pump and distributed
over the fats from a perforated pipe.

=Chilling Fat.=--The fat, while chilling, should be allowed to remain
in cold water for about five hours, or until it has become thoroughly
chilled. Precaution should be taken to see that no fat goes to the
hasher, or melting kettle, until it is thoroughly chilled. Failure
to do this is not particularly noticeable in the oleo oil when made,
but soon afterward results in a deterioration of the oil. It is
never objectionable to hold the fat from twelve to twenty hours, if
necessary, in the cold water, although five hours is sufficient. The
constant submergence of the fat by mechanical means or by hand is of
prime importance.

[Illustration: FIG. 53.--OLEO FAT CUTTER.]

The fats are ladled or forked from the chilling vat and placed on a
table to drain. The dryer the fat the better, but it must not lay
unduly long to drain. From this table they are passed through an
Enterprise steam jacketed hasher for grinding. Steam is kept on the
jacket to assist in rapidity in passing it through the hasher.

=Cooling Water.=--The chilling or cooling of water is accomplished in
two ways, by the introduction of ice or the cooling of the water or by
submerging pipes in the tanks, and circulating chilled brine or ammonia
gas through the pipes, same being a part of the refrigerating system.
In the latter case the pipes should be covered by a removable screen to
prevent fats attaching to the pipes.

[Illustration: FIG. 54.--KETTLE FOR MELTING FATS FOR OLEO OIL.]

=Melting.=--The fat when hashed is passed to an open top water jacketed
kettle of the type shown in the illustration, Fig. 54.

Just previous to beginning to hash the fat into the kettle the stirrer
is placed in motion. The water in the jacket is heated up to a
temperature of about 180° F.

When the kettle is partially filled and as the fat accumulates, it
will collect and hang to the stirring gear. To meet this condition the
stirring gear is arranged to rise vertically on the shaft by lifting
and assistance of the counterweight attached to it. The fat is removed
by the use of a paddle, the stirrer lowered and started in motion. The
fat is mixed with a large paddle so that the melting oil at the sides
and bottom of the kettle is freely intermingled with the partially
melted fat.

The mass gradually assumes a murky yellow appearance as the oil is made
free. The man in charge of melting uses a bath thermometer constantly
and regulates the temperature of the water in the jacket by the
admittance of cold water to chill it or steam to warm it so that the
temperature of the melting oil does not exceed 156° F. It usually takes
1¹⁄₂ hours to properly melt the contents of a full kettle. When the
melting is complete the stirrer is raised out of the oil and allowed to
remain raised while the oil is settled.

=Settling the Oil.=--When the oil comes to rest about twenty pounds of
fine salt is scattered over the surface, thrown in moderate handfuls so
as to sprinkle the entire surface. This salt in settling clears the oil
by carrying down the floating fibre by mechanical as well as chemical
action. The oil usually has a scum on top and this is gently skimmed
off and saved as a bottom for the next kettle. After settling about
fifteen minutes the oil is run off by gently lowering the hinged pipe,
the oil as de-canted is passed to the clarifier.

When the pure oil is run as low as can be conveniently done without
carrying off any scrap of settlings, the oil laying on the surface of
the water and sediment in the bottom is passed to some receptacle and
sent to the pressure tanks. The kettle is well scrubbed, made clean and
the skimmed bottoms deposited ready for filling again with hashed fat.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--SETTLING KETTLE FOR OLEO OILS.]

=Clarifiers or Settling Kettles.=--Each kettle is provided with two
clarifying or settling kettles. These are cone-shaped tanks in which
the oil from one melting kettle is deposited. The oil is allowed to
stand as long as possible in a quiet state and the sediment or fibre
collects in the bottom of the cone. This is withdrawn at the bottom at
frequent intervals so as to free the oil from sediment and dirt. The
temperature of the oil carried in the clarifiers is 140°, kept uniform
by use of warm water in the jacket.

After settling the oil about two hours it is drawn to the seeding
trucks. Cotton flannel bags are usually put on over the outlet pipe so
as to strain the oil and collect any floating pieces of tissue that
would otherwise pass to the seeding truck.

=Scrap Vat.=--A vessel which requires attention and in which the yield
in the oil house can be very materially increased and improved by
proper handling is the scrap vat. After the vat is melted and the oil
siphoned off, the balance or residue in kettle is drawn out of the
bottom into the scrap vat, which is located directly under the melting
kettle. This kettle should be kept full of hot water at a temperature
of about 130° F., and when the scrap is dropped in the oil will
immediately come to the surface; this should be skimmed off promptly,
for if it is allowed to lie in the scrap vat a bad flavor will result
and it will then have to be sold as an inferior grade of oil; but if
skimmed as stated this strong flavored feature may be avoided.

When through melting for the day, the steam should be turned on the
scrap vats to bring them up to a temperature of 190° to 200° F. This
will release any fat yet remaining in the scrap, which should be
skimmed and used for a lower grade of oil, as it will have a strong
flavor. The balance of the scrap is then sent to the tank house, where
it is cooked under pressure and the remaining oil taken out.

=Seeding or Graining Oil.=--The oil when settled in the clarifiers
is passed to the seeding or graining trucks. The seeding truck plays
a very important part in the handling of oleo oil and is one of the
points where a great deal of trouble can be developed if not properly
watched.

When the oil is drawn into the seeding trucks there should be no signs
of any water. If there is any water left in the oil it naturally
settles to the bottom of the seeding truck. The oil usually being at a
temperature of 120° to 125° F., and it being three and sometimes four
days before it is cooled, the heat held in the oil, together with the
water and sediment that may be in the bottom, causes a decomposition
and the result is “sour bottoms,” which are very offensive. If any
of this sour material has gotten into the press, the stearine will be
spotted and out of conditions. The oil will also show it more or less,
so that it is absolutely necessary that this particular point be given
very close and careful attention.

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--OLEO SEEDING TRUCK.]

_Advantage of Wood Seeding Trucks._--It has for many years been
considered necessary to line the seeding truck with galvanized iron, in
fact many of the large melters today are using this style of truck. The
seeding truck, however, which gives the best results is a wooden truck
(see Fig. 56) without any lining, made of basswood, or whitewood, which
are odorless, and can be readily cleaned and kept sweet. The objections
to a truck lined with galvanized iron might be summarized as follows:

In the first place, considerable salt is used in the material, more
or less of which is left in the oil. When the melted fat is drawn off
into the seeding trucks and is left to stand for three or four days,
this salt attacks the iron, and if not watched very carefully small
pin-holes will be eaten through the iron, the result being that the
galvanized iron pan will leak into the wooden box proper. Again, every
time the seeding trucks are emptied, they are thoroughly washed and
steamed out and more or less of this water for washing finds its way
in between the lining and the wooden box. When the seeding truck is
filled with oil, the weight of the oil causes this water, which is held
between the iron and the wood, to ooze into the oil, causing “sour
bottoms.” This particular point has caused the loss of a great many
thousands of dollars in the manufacture of this product, even though it
is apparently a very unimportant matter.

=Manufacture of Wooden Trucks.=--In using wooden seeding trucks,
attention is called to a very important item to be considered, and if
not carefully looked after the results will be unsatisfactory. The oil
is drawn into seeding trucks at a temperature of about 120° to 125°
F., which will shrink wood very rapidly, therefore the trucks should
be made out of thoroughly kiln-dried lumber, which should be _extra_
kiln-dried. The bottom and sides of the truck are bolted together
with a bolt running through them and one on either end, so that any
shrinkage of the wood can be taken up. The same is true of the sides
of the truck. In each of the joints, after they are perfectly made, a
strand of wicking should be put in between the edges, so that when it
is drawn down it forms a perfect packing. As is well understood, the
shrinkage of wood is mostly crosswise of the grain, there being very
little lengthwise; thus it will be seen that the wood in these trucks,
both at the sides and at the ends, must be put in so that it will
all shrink uniformly. The bottom of the truck will naturally shrink
sidewise and if the bolts are drawn up it stops the opening, while
if the sides of the truck shrink, the bottom bolts can be drawn up,
readily stopping the leak. The ends of the truck must have the grain
running up and down instead of crosswise, for if the bottom of the
truck joins sidewise and the end pieces are running crosswise of this
grain, it will be impossible to draw the bottom up tight, on account of
the lack of shrinkage of the ends where the grain runs lengthwise of
the end.

[Illustration: FIG. 57.--KNUCKLE TYPE OLEO OIL PRESS.]

=Press Room and Pressing Stock.=--The room into which the seeding
trucks with their contents are run should be held at a temperature of
75° to 90° F. The material in the seeding trucks, which is now called
“stock” should be pressed at a temperature of from 78° to 84° F.,
according to its quality, as well as to the percentage of stearine
which it is desirable to make. The lower the temperature at which
the oil is pressed the more stearine will be retained in the cloths.
After the stock is chilled to above temperature it will be found that
a granulation has taken effect and oil will be observed on the top,
whereas the heavier and granulated parts of the fat will be at the
bottom. This should be thoroughly mixed up before it is sent to the
press, either by use of a dipper or mechanically, care being used not
to disturb the bottom of the cooler. If there is any moisture in the
bottom of the truck it would spoil the stock by mixing it. Whereas,
if it is not agitated, when the stock is removed, the bottom can be
examined, and, if it is good, it can be used; otherwise it should be
sent to the tallow tanks. After the stock is thoroughly broken up or
mixed it is ready for the press, it first being wrapped in cloths.

The cloth used in connection with this press is a medium weight piece
of cotton canvas, which is cut in the proper sized pieces, about
eighteen inches square. The cloth is first put on the “former” which is
filled with a dipper full of stock; the attendant wraps it up carefully
and the man filling the press as it comes around in the wheel, takes
the wrapped stock and lays it on the plate, using eight bags of stock
on each plate in the press, generally using sixty steel plates for each
press. When the press is full the power is turned on. The slow speed
should be used almost exclusively after the press is started in order
to give the oil sufficient time to strain through the canvass.

[Illustration: FIG. 58.--OLEO OIL RECEIVER.]

=Collecting Oil.=--The oil from the press should run to a receiving
tank, as many being used as is necessary to keep the different grades
of oil separated. Where oil is being made in large quantities it is
always advisable to have the receiving tank hold sixty tierces, or a
car load of oil, for if smaller receivers are used the oil is likely to
be irregular.

The quality of oil varies, as does the quality of cattle; for instance,
choice native cattle, which are very fat, make a finer, better oil than
western cattle which are not in as good condition, and as the killing
is always liable to run irregular, if the oil is not assembled in large
quantities, it is often perceptible, and a manufacturer soon acquires
the reputation of making irregular oil. When that reputation is once
established buyers scrutinize closely before making purchases.

=Oil Receivers.=--The receivers of the oil should be either jacketed
or have a boat bottom; that is, one vat placed inside of the other
(see Fig. 58), so that the temperature of the oil in the receivers may
be regulated, but under no conditions should steam pipes be submerged
in oleo oil; all heating should be done by contact surfaces with hot
water. In having the vat made with a boat bottom it is simply necessary
to fill up the space with water and turn on steam, holding the water at
the desired temperature.

=Temperature of Oil Drawn to Tierce.=--The oil in the receiver, when
ready to be tierced, should be raised to a temperature of from 116° to
118° F., and then drawn off, the tierces being filled through a side
bung hole. After the tierce is filled it should be rolled away and
left undisturbed in a temperature of 50° F. for at least four days.
The oil thus handled will show a granulation, which is very desirable.
If the oil is not allowed to stand until it has thoroughly granulated,
or “seeded” it will come out smooth or pasty, and pasty oil is very
objectionable to the purchaser. If the oil is not drawn off at this
temperature it will be found difficult to have it seed properly, as it
chills too quickly for a good granulation to take effect. It is not
wise to draw the oil into a temperature lower than 50° F. After the oil
has been seeded it can be kept in any storage that is available below
60° F., but it must be put into the refrigerating temperature for the
first three or four days, and not at any time carried at a temperature
below 45°.

=Stearine.=--Stearine is the product left in the cloths after pressing
the stock. This product is used for many purposes, but largely for the
manufacture of compound lard on account of its hardness. (Ordinary
tallow will run 41¹⁄₂ to 43; oleo oil runs 40 to 42; oleo stearine
should run 50 to 52, titer.)

After the oil is thoroughly pressed out, the press is opened and the
stearine taken out of the cloths. The stearine should be thrown into a
bin where there is an abundant circulation of pure air, in order to
thoroughly cool, for if it is put into the package too warm, a mold
will form which deteriorates it and reduces its value. After it is
thoroughly chilled it is put into packages, compressed by a machine as
shown, which saves labor and puts more material into the package; or
pounding it with a maul as it is deposited in the tierces.

[Illustration: FIG. 59.--STEARINE PACKER.]

_Stearine Storage._--Stearine, after being put in packages, can be
held for thirty days in ordinary storage. If held longer than that, it
should be put into a room kept at a temperature of from 40° to 45° F.
and which is perfectly dry. Stearine, generally speaking, is a very
unsatisfactory article to carry any length of time, for, in pressing,
any moisture which may be in the stock is left in the stearine, and if
carried for some time this moisture produces a discoloration, which
is known to the trade as “spotted stearine.” It also causes a moldy
or musty smell, which injures it for edible purposes, and while it is
often carried for months for an anticipated rise in the market, it
is quite as often regretted that it was not sold when it was in good
condition for the market.

_Packages._--Stearine is always packed in slack packages, the regular
package being 34 inches high, 90 inches in circumference at the bilge
and 23⁵⁄₈ inches across the head with eight patented hoops. Oleo oil is
always put into a special tierce which is 34 inches high, 81 inches in
circumference at bilge and 21 inches across heads, with six iron hoops.

=Oil House Yields.=--The yields of oleo oil and stearine from stock
are regulated largely by the prices of the different articles, as, for
instance, when oil is low and stearine is high it is advisable to press
the stock at a lower temperature, making all the stearine possible.
Reverse the conditions and it is advisable to press the stock at a high
temperature, making all the oil possible, hence the general yield of
oil in stearine is largely regulated by the price of the two.

=Grading Fats.=--As the different kinds of fat have more or less
different flavors, it is wise to make careful selections in order to
get the best results, it being impossible to make a grade of all No.
1 oil, 10 or 15 per cent of the total being No. 2. The balance of the
product, eliminating the 10 or 15 per cent should be strictly No. 1
oil, but if the whole output is made into one grade, it would not be
acceptable as No. 1. Hence it will be seen that it is the better part
of wisdom to make two and sometimes three grades of this product, as
indicated above.

Of all the oleo oil made in this country, 75 to 90 per cent is shipped
to Holland, where it is made into butterine and distributed throughout
the continent and England. The requirements of these consumers seem
to have changed within the last few years, and the melters of oleo oil
strive to get the oils in the condition to best suit the Hollanders’
demands. What they seem to require is, first of all, a very neutral
oil, or in other words an oil with as little flavor and smell as
possible, whereas only a few years ago just the opposite was the case,
and the whole endeavor at that time was to get an oil with as much
flavor as could be made. In grading the fats a neutral or No. 1 oil is
obtained from the following parts:

  Caul fat.
  Ruffle fat.
  Briskets trimmings.