Secrets of meat curing and sausage making / how to cure hams, shoulders, bacon, corned beef, etc., and how to make all kinds of sausage, etc. to comply with the pure food laws

by B. Heller & Co.

KILLING AND DRESSING CATTLE.

Fig. 2—Beef: Illustrating method of securing to stun. Intersection of dotted lines show place to strike.

The first step in killing is to secure the animal so that, in no emergency, it can escape. Use a rope one inch in diameter. Put a slip noose in one end with a knot just far enough from the noose to prevent choking when drawn tight, but it should at the same time allow the noose to draw tight enough so that there is no danger of escape, in the event of the rope becoming slack. If the animal has horns, pass the noose over the head, back of the ear and horn on the right side, but in front of the horn on the left side of the head. This operation leaves the full face of the animal bare and does not tighten on the throat. When a dehorned or polled animal is to be slaughtered it will of course be necessary to put the noose around the neck. Attach an ordinary pulley to a post or tree close to the ground, to the barn floor or sill, pass the rope through it and draw the animal’s head down as close to the pulley as possible.

Administer a heavy blow in the center of the forehead at a point where lines from the base of the horns to the eyes would cross. Shooting has the same effect as stunning and may be resorted to. Frequently where an animal can not be brought to the pulley it is necessary to shoot. In shooting use only a rifle of good caliber.

Bleed the animal immediately by sticking just in front of the breast bone as shown in Fig. 3. Stand in front of the animal with back toward the body after the manner of a horseshoer. Reaching down between the front feet, lay open the skin from breast-bone toward the chin for a distance of 10 to 12 inches, using the ordinary skinning knife. Insert the knife with the back against the breastbone and the tip pointing to the spinal column at the top of the shoulders, cutting just under the windpipe and about 5 to 6 inches in depth at the junction of the jugular vein near the collar bone; at this point if the vein is severed the blood will run out rapidly. If stuck too deep, the pleura will be punctured and blood will flow in the chest cavity, causing a bloody carcass. It requires practice to become expert in the sticking of beef. Not so much skill is required to simply cut the animal’s throat back of the jaws but the time required for bleeding is very much longer and the bleeding less thorough.