FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 197 



or twelve pigs and will not fall away. Pigs will begin to eat when about two 

 "weeks old ; they should have a trough wliere no large hog or other animal can 

 get to it ; they should be fed bread and milk or scraps from the table, corn 

 and oats ground together, cooked, and added to their milk, but no other slops 

 should be given them, for it is apt to scour them. 



The Origin of the Improved Berkshire Swine. 



A. B. Allen, in his prize essay on the ''Origin and Management of Berk- 

 shire Swine," says : 



"Tradition, and the earliest published accounts of what has long been par- 

 ticularly distinguished by the name of Berkshire Swine, represents them down 

 to about a century since, as among the largest breeds of England, weighing 

 when full grown, from 700 to 1,000 pounds or more. "Originally they were 

 represented as being a buff, sandy, or reddish brown color spotted with black. 

 They were coarse in the bone, head large, broad on the back, long bodied, large 

 hams and shoulders. Their meat Avas marbled to a greater degree than that of 

 any other breed of swine in Great Britain. 



"Swine history tells us that the Berkshires were much improved more than 

 a century ago, by a cross of the black Siamese boar with the old unimproved 

 Berkshire sows." 



Descrijjtion of the Improved Berkshire Swine. 



They may be described as follows : Color, — black, white feet, white blaze 

 in face, tip of tail white, snout and head fine and rather short, face dished, 

 cars small and thin, eyes bright and expressive, chest broad and deep, back 

 broad, shoulders heavy, hams broad, round and deep, offal very light, skin 

 thin, hair fine, soft and silky; withal a very stylish beast, and every way 

 perfect. 



' DISCUSSION. 



Prof. Ingersoll. — I notice your feed is middlings and corn meal made into a 

 mush. Do you allow it to sour before feeding? 



Mr. Vickery. — For young pigs, I feed it sweet. It is apt to scour young pigs 

 when sour. For older hogs I let it sour first. It makes a better food. Do not 

 make it into a porridge, but let them eat it in form of a thick mush. 



Question. — How much will hogs increase in weight a day? 



Mr. Vickery. — I cannot say. Have never weighed to see. 



Mr. Danforth. — I have tried some experiments on that point. I fed my hogs 

 on boiled potatoes, and they gained 2^ lbs. per day. Weighed them about 

 once in two weeks. My hogs when let out of the pen, would go straight to the 

 scales. The reason was there was always corn there for them. [Laughter.] 

 The largest increase I got was three pounds per day. 



Prof. C. L. Ingersoll gave a lecture on Breeds of Cattle. (See lectures given 

 at more than one Institute.) 



Mrs. D. Eddy, of Eaton, read a short essay, entitled a "Talk About Flow- 

 ers," in which she discoursed pleasantly regarding the beauty and influence of 

 flowers, and Mr. F. E. Andrews, of Bellevue, read an essay, 



CLOVER AS A CROP AND FERTILIZER. 



The essay was a strong vindication of this plant for its renovating and recu- 

 perating properties. Wheat culture is exhaustive, but clover is the greatest root 



