374 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



"A breeding sow should never be overfed; not that she 

 should be starved — on the contrary, she should be kept, by a 

 judicious allowance of food, in good condition and perfect 

 ^health, but not fat. A sow when fat is not likely to be fertile, 

 and moreover, her parturition is sure to be more difficult and 

 dangerous, and her milk in insufficient quantity, perhaps even 

 of inferior quality, while her unwieldiness renders her more 

 liable to overlay her young. When with pig she should have 

 a commodious and clean sty to herself, and be supplied with 

 sufficient straw to render her comfortable. She should be 

 sufficiently fed, and all her wants supplied. All sources of 

 irritation or annoyance should be avoided, and especially as 

 the time of parturition approaches. From these causes — 

 sometimes, perhaps, from craving hunger — a sow will devour 

 her young; it is said, also, that if she be allowed to devour 

 the after-birth, a morbid appetite, leading her to fall upon 

 her litter, will be engendered. For these reasons the sow 

 should be carefully watched and fed, especially if the par- 

 turition be her first; and not for these reasons only, but 

 lest her parturition should prove dangerous or in any way 

 difficult. 



'' On no account should two pregnant sows be placed in one 

 sty, however commodious. They will assault each other, and 

 at last, perhaps, destroy each other's young. 



" ' Selection, with judicious and cautious admixture, is the 

 true secret of forming a breed.' It is thus that all our 

 improved breeds of domestic animals have been produced, 

 those of the hog not excepted. Hence, the old, coarse, large- 

 boned swine have now almost disappeared, and given place to 

 small-boned breeds, apt to fatten, mature at an earlier age, 

 affording more delicate meat, less expensive to keep, and, 

 therefore, altogether more profitable. Such breeds are rapidly 

 extending themselves, and improvements are going on. Many 

 landed proprietors pride themselves on the possession of a 

 particular breed of their own establishment, and remarkable 

 for good qualities of every kind. In the establishment of 

 such a stock, indiscriminate selection, and a repetition of 

 crosses, with no definite object, must be avoided; while, at 

 the same time, a pertinacious adherence to the plan of breed- 



