Origin of Meat Foods
Man uses for his meat diet almost all classes of animal life. However, the principal classes of animals that supply the human race with meat food are: cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, and, in China and southern Europe, the buffalo. In Northern China the camel and in Western China the yak are also used to some extent for food. Such animals as birds (other than poultry), rabbits, fish and other forms of water life, while of importance, do not provide as large a supply of meat food as do the domesticated animals mentioned above.
The animals in China from which the main supply of meat comes are swine, cattle, water buffalo, and poultry (including chickens, ducks, and geese).
Hogs in China are of both the bacon and lard types. The lard type is the most common, except in the provinces of Yunnan, Szechwan, and some regions in central China, where the bacon type is found.
The Chinese lard hogs are characterized by their large, pendulous bellies, sway-backs, light hams, and by their slowness in maturing. They are inferior hogs when compared with the improved breeds of Europe and America, but as a rule are better than the native hogs found in other parts of the Orient. Their large bellies and low backs are largely due to the fact that from the time the pigs begin to eat until they are butchered, all concentrate feeds are given in the form of a very wet swill, and they are allowed to drink all they can hold of such feed twice a day. Such feeding stretches the digestive tract to an abnormal degree, and permanently enlarges the belly and pulls down the back. By giving less water with the feed, and not allowing the pigs to fill up with all they can possibly hold, this abnormal development can largely be prevented. Intelligent breeding for several generations, by mating animals with the most desirable conformation, such as straight backs, wide, deep hams, long, deep bodies, short heads, and short legs, should bring about further improvement. Breeding for fast growing and early maturing animals should also be practiced, as the most profitable feeding is with young animals.
Fig. 1. Heifer two years old of the native humped variety
Fig. 1. Heifer two years old of the native humped variety
Fig. 1. Heifer two years old of the native humped variety
Fig. 2. Beef-draft water buffalos with calves a few weeks old
Fig. 2. Beef-draft water buffalos with calves a few weeks old
Fig. 2. Beef-draft water buffalos with calves a few weeks old
Fig. 3. Chinese “fat-tailed” variety of sheep
Fig. 3. Chinese “fat-tailed” variety of sheep
Fig. 3. Chinese “fat-tailed” variety of sheep
Fig. 4. Chinese lard hogs ready for butchering raised at Canton Christian College
Fig. 4. Chinese lard hogs ready for butchering raised at Canton Christian College
Fig. 4. Chinese lard hogs ready for butchering raised at Canton Christian College
It is interesting to note that years ago the native lard hog of southern China was used to secure desirable characters in two of our most important modern breeds, the Berkshire and the Poland China breeds. However, since that time these western breeds have been further greatly improved by intelligent selection and breeding, while the Chinese hogs have been very little improved, if at all. To-day, in comparing the native Chinese lard hog with the modern western breeds, there is no resemblance in the Chinese hog to the wide, slightly arched back, deep, long sides, deep, full hams, small heads, short legs, and rapid growth of these modern breeds which have, in their origin, blood of the native Chinese lard hog.
Due to slow maturity and undesirable conformation, the Chinese hog is not as economical in converting feeds into meat as is the improved western hog. However, the meat is of good flavor and can be successfully cured. An exception to this is the case of animals that have been largely fed on rice bran, which produces a soft, oily pork, although no difficulty is experienced in curing such pork. Wheat bran produces a firm flesh. If a firm flesh is desired, it is important that rice bran or polish not be fed to hogs during the last six to eight weeks of the fattening period.
The main source of beef in China is the native “humped” cow, called by the people of southern ChinaWong Ngauwhich means “yellow cow”. This native variety of humped cattle is a good beef animal, although there is room for a great deal of improvement by breeding for early maturity, greater size, and development of a more distinctly beef type.
The water buffalo, while chiefly used for draft purposes, is an important source of beef in China. There is very little difference in quality between the Chinese buffalo beef and ordinary beef. However, the lean meat of the buffalo is considerably darker in color than the lean meat in ordinary beef.
Young stock, up to three years old, that have not been used for draft purposes, are best for beef. Beef from buffalos or cattle that have been used for work for some time before butchering is generally tough, and less palatable than beef from animals that have not been worked.
In northern China, especially in the provinces of Shantung and Chihli, the fat-tailed variety of sheep is raised to a considerable extent, both for mutton and for wool. The covering of wool is light, however, when compared with that of the wool breeds, and this sheep is properly classed as a mutton sheep. They are so called because of their large fat tails, which are about three to four inches thick, six to eight inches wide, and eight to ten inches long. Fat-tailed sheep are shipped by rail and by boat to many parts of China from the regions in which they are raised.
The goat, while of less importance than the sheep as a source of meat, is raised in limited numbers in many parts of China for meat purposes. Meat from the goat is considered inferior to that from sheep.
The most common of all animal food in China is probably poultry. Many varieties of chickens, ducks, and geese are raised. Some of the best breeds of chickens for meat are the Langshang, from the Shanghai region, of which there are two varieties, the black and the white; and the Swatow, of which there are also two varieties, the white and buff. These breeds are large and meaty, individuals weighing from five to eight pounds. There is a number of other distinct breeds and varieties of chickens, which, while they are not as good for meat as the above, due to their smaller size, are used extensively for food.
In the region of Canton, the common variety of chickens used for meat, and also for egg production, is a small buff-colored variety, generally more or less mixed with other varieties. This variety, which is calledwong kai(黃雞) by the Cantonese, is becoming very popular in the Philippine Islands, where it is called the “Cantonese” chicken because of its introduction from Canton.
The most common ducks of southern China are of a dark colored variety. In north China the white Peking duck is the common variety. Both are excellent for meat.
There are three varieties of Chinese geese; the grey, white, and brown. The grey variety is probably more generally used for meat than are the other two varieties. It is the only variety raised on a large scale in southern China, and its meat is of excellent quality. Chinese geese are distinguished from other breeds of geese by the fleshy protuberance at the base of the bill and front of the skull.