THE SWINE—SWINE PROPER. 



545 



Pigs were brought to him; they were attired in 

 queer clothing and danced to the music of a bag- 

 pipe. Other Figs have been trained to form words 

 of large printed letters, to indicate the time after 

 looking at a clock, etc. An Englishman had a Pig 

 trained to hunt. The animal was called "Slut;" it 

 was very fond of the sport and would follow any 

 hunter. It would point at any kind of game with 

 the exception of the Hare, which it never seemed to 

 notice. So sensitive was its nose that it would fre- 

 quently point at a bird at a distance of forty yards. 

 "Slut" was employed in the capacity of pointer for 

 several years, but was at last killed, because it had 

 become a dangerous neighbor to the Sheep. Other 

 Pigs have been trained to run in harness. A farmer 

 near St. Albans, England, often came in with a team 

 of four Hogs, drove once or twice around the mar- 

 ket-place, fed his team, and then drove back to his 



cause its death: as to the rest it eats anything Man 

 eats and a hundred things beside. It selects its food 

 indiscriminately from the vegetable and animal king- 

 doms. It makes itself very useful on fallow land 

 and in stubble-fields, as it destroys Mice, Maggots, 

 Snails, Earth-worms, Grasshoppers, chrysalids of 

 Butterflies, and various weeds, and as a result gets 

 very fat while it is rooting up the earth. Black 

 Hogs are said to enjoy the advantage of being able 

 to consume poisonous plants of all kinds without 

 injury to themselves, and therefore they arc kept in 

 some countries to either partial or total exclusion 

 of all others. 



While one tries, as much as possible, during the fat- 

 tening process to keep domestic Hogs from taking 

 exercise, he must allow some space for recreation 

 to those destined for breeding. They also require 

 clean, warm folds. The pairing usually occurs twice 



THE TDFTED HOG 



light-colored mane, and abov 



house. Another farmer laid a wager that he would 

 in one hour ride his Pig from his own house to Nor- 

 folk, a distance of four miles, and he won his wager. 



These stories prove that Hogs are docile and 

 carry with them the corollary that we ought not to 

 underrate their mental capacity. It is a queer fact 

 that Hogs always display a certain aversion towards 

 Dogs. Tame and wild Hogs have no scruples 

 against eating all other sorts of carrion, but are said 

 never to touch Dog-flesh; on the other hand strange 

 Dogs are often attacked by a gang of village Hogs, 

 and sportsmen and promenaders, who, with their 

 Dogs, visit villages where Hogs are allowed to run 

 abroad, do well in being cautious. 

 Feeding and Uses In general' a tame Hog is almost 



of the Domes- absolutely omnivorous. There really 



tic Hog. i s hardly a nutritive substance which 



this animal would scorn. Some plants are not 



touched by it and acrid, pungent spices sometimes 



a year, in the beginning of April or in September. 

 From sixteen to eighteen weeks later, the sow pro- 

 duces from four to six, sometimes from twelve to 

 fifteen, and in rare cases from twenty to twenty-four 

 young. The mother displays little maternal solici- 

 tude for her Pigs, often not even preparing a bed 

 before their arrival. It happens not infrequently, 

 when the number of her progeny annoys her, that 

 she eats some of them, this usually happening after 

 she has smothered them by rolling over the Pigs 

 accidentally. Some sows have to be watched and 

 denied animal food a longtime before the little ones 

 make their appearance. If the mother is patient 

 and careful with them, the young are left to suckle 

 for four weeks, and require no other attention. 

 Then they are taken away and reared on light, easily- 

 digested food. Their growth is very rapid and a 

 Hog is capable of reproduction at the early age of 

 eicfht months. 



