THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



461 



and yearly increasiii^ ; there is no class of animals equally 

 jjrolific that are of any great value to m«n. It ia this view of 

 the subject that so highly enhances the importance of the 

 breeding, rearing, and feeding, and general mauagemeut of 

 pigs, and which I will now endeavour to describe as fully and 

 as briefly as possible in accordance with the importance of the 

 subject. I find that the profit or loss of the pig rests on the 

 quality of the stock, and it must be kept in mind for what 

 purpose the animal is intended, whether for bacon or pork ; if 

 for bacon flitches, you must choose a large kind, such as 

 Berkshire; but if for pork, the small kind is moat desirable, 

 such as the Suffolk or Leicester, which are very similar ani- 

 mals ; and every judicious breeder will have to take into con- 

 sideration many circumstances in choosing a breed of pigs. 

 The intent and purpose of breeding is profit. To ensure the 

 greatest amount of profit, it would be well to consider the 

 position in life of the population resident near one's own locality; 

 his proximity to a good market, and the kind and quality of 

 meat necessary for its supply. Formerly farmers had no 

 means of conveying their swine to a favourable market, except 

 the tedious one of driving them, or the expensive one of con- 

 veying them in carts. I have named as a matter for considera- 

 tion the locality of the breeder; this is, however, in reality 

 becoming of little importance, for communication by railway 

 is now become so general throughout the country, and the 

 means of transit so cheap and so easy of accomplishment, that 

 every breeder will ultimately take this into account, and the 

 advantages of it. He can send to whatever market is beat 

 suited to his purpose. There is a pig called the Improved 

 Black Suffolk, which many persons prefer to white, thinking 

 they are more hardy; but I have fairly tested the thing of late 

 (which I suppose most present have been eye-witness to), and 

 proved that the white will exceed the black as far as early ma- 

 turity is concerned, and of course early maturity ia where the 

 profit is gained ; and I find the better the quality of breed, the 

 more lucrative it becomes, much less food being required. 

 Now for our White Suffolk breed. In choosing the sow and 

 boar the chief points are — a smallish head, with short snout, 

 wide chaps ; the ears rather small and thin, ends sharp, pendu- 

 lous, and pointing a little forward ; broad and deep chest; 

 round ribs ; long in the body and short in the leg ; the haunch 

 or thigh dropped almost to the hock ; back broad, straight or 

 slightly curved ; shoulders and hams thick, and the neck to 

 rise well behind the ears ; small bones in proportion to the 

 flesh; thehair to belong, thin, and silky ; tail small and curled. 

 Strict attention to these points in selection cannot fail of per- 

 petuating good stock. Here I must add my surprise how 

 careless breeders are in selecting the boar for their sows; if 

 there happens to be a good animal within a short distance, for 

 the going to which half-a-crown is charged, they will often 

 send double the distance to a thoroughly bad-bred ugly brute 

 for the sake of the gain of a shilling ; whilst this apparently 

 pallry gain is so much looked after, improvement is out of the 

 question. But, gentlemen, instead of trying further to explain 

 what the animals ought to be, I shall have great pleasure 

 in showing you a specimen or two ; and to show the contrast 

 between a well-bred pig and a bad-bred pig, I have brought 

 one from a neighbour's, about the same age as mine, as a 

 breeding sow, from the opposite side of the read to my farm. 

 Tou can, therefore, be your own judges, whether I have fixed 

 on the right breed or not, for I do not like preaching without 

 practising. As to the time for breeding, the sow should be 

 from ten to twelve mouths old, and the boar from eight to 

 twelve months. I, however, find that very few people will 

 keep them so long, but breed them much earlier, which very 

 often prevents their growing to the proper size, or acquiring 



sufficient etrength for breeding. I think good sized sows are 

 best for breeding, and more likely to have a good number of 

 pigs. Great care should be takeu not to save one with less 

 than twelve paps, for it is observed each pig selects a tit for 

 itself. I consider twelve good even pigs to be sufficient for 

 any sow to bring up. The sow I exhibited at Framlingham 

 and Canterbury last summer, has brought up fifty-one pigs in 

 four litters, without losing one. As far as my experience goes, 

 the time of gestation averages about 113 days, or sixteen 

 weeks and one day. Two good litters in a year ia all we ought 

 to expect. When a sow is in pig she ought to have liberty and 

 plenty of exercise. The boars kept for stock should be confined 

 in a shed with a roomj' yard ; if allowed to roam about, you 

 are likely to get wrong in your breed. In managing the sow at 

 the time of farrowirg, my practice is is follows : To have a 

 man with her to attend to her ; for it is absurd to have all the 

 trouble and expense of keeping a sow, then, at the most par- 

 ticular time, to leave her alone to take her chance. In my 

 idea there is not sufficient attention paid to the construction 

 of piggeries; I have seldom seen one which I did not consider 

 too small, except perhaps juat for fat pigs, which, of course, 

 do not so much eignify, for the less a pig put up for fatting 

 moves, the better. But the farrowing pen ought to be large, 

 to allow the sow plenty of room, and likewise to admit of 

 rails being placed round the sides, so fixed as to prevent the 

 sow lying on the young ones. These rails'should be made to 

 shift according to the sise of the sow, I think in height from 

 8 to 12 inches, and extend out from the wall about nine 

 inches, having the supports carried up sloping from the side, 

 instead of straight up from the floor, like a model I havt; 

 brought with me ; then when the sow lies down, there will be 

 no likelihood of her squeeBing the pigs, aa there is plenty of 

 space left for them to pass between her and the wall, for nine 

 times out of ten that is where the mischief is done, as sows 

 invariably like to lean against something when they lie down. 

 I have recently had a hundred pigs, without losing one from 

 being crushed. Several gentlemen have told me lately they 

 have lost a great number from that cause ;' but if they will 

 take my advice with respect to the rails, I feel satisfied they 

 will not have to complain of losing pigs from being lain on 

 again. Each place ought to be, at least, from 8 to 10 Let 

 square, and the best floor, I consider, is asphalte. No damp 

 or scent can rise from that ; I tried boards, bricks, and almost 

 everything in the way of floors; most persons would say 

 boards are best, but I think I can convince you to the con- 

 trary. If j'ou will consider, for only one minute, they cannot 

 be healthy; for if the boards are placed close, of course the 

 moisture will stand, and the boards become saturated ; and if 

 a space is left, the refuse litter will go between, so it will be- 

 come one mass of putrid matter underneath, quite level with 

 the floor, whatever the depth may be; for what passes though 

 will absorb the urine, and ia likely to bring on many diseases. 

 But I think it is well in the cold weather, to lay down a false 

 lattice floor on the asphalte, so it can be taken up once a-week, 

 and everything swept from under, for two or three weeks, 

 when the pigs are very young. I have the beds attended to 

 and fresh litter every morning, for I find the cleaner the place 

 is kept, the better the pigs thrive. The floor being washed 

 once or twice a-week, everything runs off, and the asphalte 

 dries in a very short time. There is another great advantage : 

 it does not take more than two-thirds the straw it requires for 

 any other floor ; for the moisture appears to run under the 

 litter, without wetting it so much, as it is laid a little on the 

 slope ; what is takeu from the inside, serves as litter for the 

 pounds outside, which ought to be paved in some way to pre- 

 vent the pigs from rooting. By following this plan, the 



