Bacon Curing.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 60, 7 September 1895, Page 2

Bacon Curing.

An industry which promises to be very profitable in Feilding is that of bacon curing. For the past few winters Mr W. B. Retemeyer has been devoting considerable attention to the matter, and has now established a recognised factor}', where he not only cures bacon for himself, but for settlers and others. During the past winter he has cured nearly 400 pigs in this way, a very considerable portion of the output being disposed of to storekeepers in Feilding and Palmerston. A few days ago a member of our staff availed himself of Mr Retemeyer's courtesy to visit the factory referred to, when he found that gentleman had the carcases of 170 pigs in various stages of preparation —from the salting bench, drying shed, smoke house, to hams and bacon ready for disposal to the consumer. In curing for outsiders, Mr Retemeyer receives the pigs after they have been killed and dressed. For curing Mr Retemeyer charges Id per lb on the actual weight returned to the grower, -while for his own hams he charges 7d per lb and 6£d for bacon, During the process of curing which takes from six to seven weeks, every care is taken, particular attention being paid to smoking, the maximum temperature in the smoke house not being allowed to exceed 70 degrees. Mr Retemeyer's business is not merely a local one as he had an order from a Foxton firm, namely, Messrs P. Hennessey and Co., besides which he had orders from Sandou, Palmerston, Pohangina and other places. To meet the demands of a growing business, and as he intends to cure during the summer, the enterprising proprietor proposes to brick the walls of the curing room and make other extensive improvements. When asked as to the breed of pigs he thought were most profitable, Mr Retemeyer replied that he preferred a cross between an Essex, boar and a Berkshire sow, but he did not believe in pure bred sows for profit as constitution was sacrificed for appearance and fat. He expressed the opinion that a pig well fattened and weighing from 100 to 120 pounds would be the most saleable for bams or bacon. The produce from Mr Retemeyer's factory is growing in popularity as it can compare most favorably with the best Canterbury hams and bacon, and we feel confident this industry will prove lucrative in the near future both to Mr Retemeyer and the dairy farmers in this district.