Hogs contributed more to the material welfare of the Jamestown Colony
than historians have generally recognized. Hogs have many advantages
over other breeds of livestock. They multiply much faster than any
other domestic animal except poultry. They make faster gains and
double the weight for the food consumed than do cattle, sheep or
goats. When slaughtered, hogs dress out about 75 percent edible meat,
as compared with 55 to 60 percent for cattle. When given wide open
range in humid climates such as prevailed in the Tidewater, they do
fairly well without other feed than what they can find for
themselves.
In summer, at Jamestown, they obtained most of their living in the
numerous fresh-water swamps. Tuckahoe, a flag-like swamp plant, with
an enormous root system, was their favorite hot weather forage. The
roots of tuckahoe, often as large as a man's arm, contain a
crystalline acid that burns the mouth of a human being like fire.
After a few trials, hogs seem to relish it. While tuckahoe is not a
fattening feed, hogs eating it make satisfactory gains in weight.
In the fall when the acorns and nuts ripened, the hogs put on weight
at a rapid pace. The woods were stocked with oak, hickory, chestnut,
beech, chinquapin, and persimmon trees and shrubs, the fruits of
which were all grouped under the general term _mast_. There is one
difference between pork produced from grain-fed hogs and those
fattened on mast. The lard of the latter group melts at a temperature
of about ten degrees below that of those fed corn. To the connoisseur
of well cured hams and bacon this low melting point is not a
detriment but a distinct improvement.
The colonists adapted the Indian practice of using smoke to aid in
the curing of meat. The natives built platforms of poles supported by
posts about six feet from the ground. The meat to be cured was salted
and spread on these poles. A small fire was built underneath to
furnish the smoke. This arrangement was called by the Taino Indians,
a _barbacoa_ from which we get the English equivalent, _barbecue_.
By 1636, hogs, sheep and goats had increased in such numbers that
ships coming to Jamestown could supply their needs for meat from the
colony's surplus. This was advantageous to shipmasters and furnished
a market for a product of a growing industry in the colony. Prior to
that time ships coming to America from Europe had to take on food
stuffs for the round trip.
Another benefit accrued to the colony. The combined curing process of
salt and smoke imparts a delicious flavor to hams and bacon that has
never been excelled by any other method. This applies especially to
meat from hogs fattened on mast or peanuts.
Virginia hams and bacon soon became noted for their excellence all
over the world. The fame of these products has never waned.
Unfortunately, most hotels and restaurants in the United State now
use the term "Virginia ham" on their menus to designate this sort of
meat regardless of its origin or cure. New England ships, plying a
coastwise traffic with the Caribbean countries, frequently stopped in
Jamestown for cargoes of salted meats. This trade was especially
desirable during times when the price of tobacco fell to ruinous
levels. Most of the hogs ran wild. Some planters marked their animals
by ear-cuts, and then could claim an entire drove, if they had a
number of their branded hogs in it.