Appalachian and German farming lore holds that pork butchered on a waxing moon stays plump in the pan, and pork from a waning moon shrivels.

The other half of the rule is more practical than mystical: hog killing was done in cold weather, on a settled day, with the whole neighbourhood helping. Picking the date off a moon phase meant everybody could plan for it weeks ahead without a shared calendar, which may be the real function of a great deal of this material.