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Photographer: Stanley and Terrie Howard
Taken: October 19, 2008
Caption: Hogs
Additional Description: Hogs were the main source of meat on mountain farms. They could produce several large litters of offspring each year, which helped insure a family's supply of meat. Surplus livestock could also be sold to produce extra income for the family. The meat was relatively easy to preserve, usually by curing it with salt, and the lard produced from the fat was used in cooking and soap making. Hogs were so self-sufficient that they were turned out into the forest to forage for food. Fall was the only time many families penned some of their hogs to fatten them for butchering. To keep track of their hogs and avoid disputes over ownership, farmers frequently cut identifying marks into the animal's ears.
Submitted: October 20, 2008, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina.
Database Locator Identification Number: p40258
File Size: 1.107 Megabytes

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