I30 



PIG KEEPING FOR BACON. 



Why any occupier of the land should neglect to keep pigs 

 is hard to understand. Food is usually cheap. The pig is 

 also capable of getting its own living for comparatively 

 nothing, and the remainder is reasonably found in potatoes, 

 roots and damaged corn. I think generally too much atten- 

 tion is given to the sow when farrowing, as she is much 

 better left alone. Attention then onh^ excites the mother, 

 causing her to lie on and smother her young. They should 

 have a clean sty, with a moderate supply of short straw or 

 cavins, and be kept with a limited quantity of food and plenty 

 of water before and after for a few days. The losses will 

 then be much smaller than if too much and frequent attention 

 is given. It is surprising how soon the little ones, if given 

 the opportunity, look after themeselves in picking a few dry 

 peas and drinking milk or milk and water. This mode of 

 feeding should be adopted, and the owner will then find them 

 make regular improvement, which does not slacken when the 

 weaning season comes on, and a pig regularly and gradually 

 fed commends itself to the feeder and consumer. When the 

 pigs are w^eaned the mother can be kept sufficiently well for 

 a few pence a day. When bacon is dear is a favorable time 

 to prove the financial result between having a breeding sow 

 and the feeding of several cattle. 1 am inclined to believe in 

 the pig winning the race. A good and suitable mixture of bar- 

 ley, oats, and peas, ground and used with boiled potatoes or 

 swedes, is much better and cheaper than feeding all meal. 

 If a little milk is at hand, so much the better. Pigs change 

 so often in value that I incline to the regular keeping of a few. 

 They are the best scavengers, and great loss must accrue 

 where there is damaged corn if the pig is absent. Of course, 

 a man with cash in his pocket should generally purchase what 

 he wants, but bought pigs seldom do like those bred on the 

 place, and that have been reared and fed Avith judgment. — 

 Journal Agriculture W. A. 



DATE CULTIVATION IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 



The Madras Government has discontinued the experiments it 

 .has lately conducted in the cultivation of the date. It is reported 

 that the climate of Southern India is too tropical for the growth 



