The sticking knife should have a blade eight or nine inches long. In America, a knife with straight edges, which at the end tapers to a point is used, while in China, a knife tapering from two inches wide at the handle to a long, narrow point is used. Either type of knife will do. The knife should be thrust diagonally into the neck for about six to eight inches of its length, depending on the size of the hog. It should be inserted on the middle line of the body, about three or four inches in front of the sternum, with the sharp edge of the knife toward the rear and the knife pointed in the direction of the loin of the hog. One hand of the operator should be held on the lower jaw of the hog to help hold the animal steady. It will require a little practice to stick properly. If rightly done, the large blood vessels will be severed, the animal will bleed quickly, and be dead in less than five minutes. In large packing houses, where each man has a certain piece of work to do, the hogs are hung by one leg upon a moving over-head track. As the hogs move by the killer, he grasps one front leg with one hand, and, with the other hand, does the sticking. Such an arrangement is practical where a large number of hogs is killed daily. § 14. “Watered” Meat There is a very common practice in China of increasing the weight of the dressed hog carcass by forcing water into the meat as soon as the blood has drained away and the scraping is finished. Water is forced in through the large blood vessels leading away from the heart. To do this properly, care is taken in sticking not to sever the large blood vessels from the heart. This is accomplished by using a long, narrow sticking knife, which is thrust into the heart itself. The animal thus stuck bleeds into the chest cavity, which is not desirable, as the bleeding will not be as thorough as when the large blood vessels only are severed. The carcass of the hog may be increased several pounds by this treatment. It is difficult to detect from the appearance of the pork whether or not it has been watered. On roasting, watered meat shrinks more than normal meat. Watered meat will spoil quicker than normal meat, and will not cure well. The practice of “watering” meat should be discouraged. § 15. Scalding and Scraping