HOGS A2sD PORK PACKING. 203 



Since the prevalence of the bog cliolera, whicli has at times rao-cd so vio- 

 lently over many parts of the west, the distillers have found it very precarious 

 business to feed them, as often half to three-fourths of a lot of hogs are swep-:; 

 ofi" in a single season. At other times a very small per centum is lost from 

 any cause, This method of feeding is then found very profitable. IIo"-3 are 

 usually kept at the distillery until October, vhen they arc sent to market to 

 give place to cattle, which are found much more profitable and safe to feed 

 through the winter season. In this time hogs put in at 125 to 150 pounds 

 will usually average from 275 to 300 pounds, some, of course, attaining very 

 heavy weigbts. 



The quality of pork made on still slops is not such as is suitable for pack- 

 ing, ui.less for immediate use, as it is very soft and juicy, neither does it bring 

 as good a price as other pork for packing. The lard obtained is neither of as 

 good and desirable Cjuality as that from corn-fed hogs. The meat is said not 

 to take salt well, it being so soft that the salt forms a kind of crust on the 

 outside of the meat, leaving the inside fresh, which would soon cause it to taint 

 and become rusty. 



Considerable of this quality of pork finds its way to market during the warm 

 weather, and is sold fresh from the butcher's stalls, it being in a good condi- 

 tion for market through the summer. 



The hams of still-fed hogs, when carefully treated and cured, are consid- 

 ered superior for their rich and juicy character. 



Still slops are the residue, after distillation, of corn, oats, rye, and barley, 

 about seven-eighths of which is corn, the whole being mixed with Avater in the 

 proportion of forty gallons to one bushel of grain. 



PRICE OF CORX AND PORK. 



From careful calculations made with Berkshire hogs, they have been found 

 to gam two pounds per day for two months, (the usual time of feeding,) during 

 which time they have consumed ten bushels of corn each. If the pork sells at 

 at 5 cents per pound, this would give (say 60 days) 120 pounds gain, $6, 

 which would be 60 cents per bushel for corn — certainly a good disposition to 

 make of " ten-cent corn." From these data some idea can be formed when it 

 would cease to be profitable to feed corn. 



INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE. 



We give annexed the practice and statistics of a gentleman in Ogle county 

 who has had considerable practice in feeding hogs and been very successful. 

 We give it in his own words : 



" I raise the Cliester A\'liites ; they are very good. I can make hags at eighteen months 

 old average 3o0 pounds, live weight, without any difficulty. From what experience 1 have 

 had with ground and cooked feed, I am satisfied it is preferable to whole corn by at least 

 from three to four pounds of pork per bushel of corn. I do not, however, coniine my hogs 

 to cooked food entirely, as aiter they have eaten all they will of the cooked feed thej' will 

 eat whole corn greedily. I have frequently fed them corn first, and after they had eaten 

 what they would of it would eat lieartily of the cooked food. Hogs do better to moderately 

 salt their cooked food ; the}' also eat it much more readily, and keep in better liealth. Since 

 August last I have fattened 150 bead, and have not had a sick hog to trouble me. In the 

 summer I give my hogs the lange of a fine grove near which I live. I would prefer to let 

 pigs run with the mother until she weaned them herself, unless there was some special reason 

 for doing otherwise. "With good thrifty hogs, I am satisfied I can make fourteen pounds of 

 pork from one bushel of corn, and, under favorable circumstances, more than that. I fat- 

 tened a pen of hogs last spring, twelve in number, (not qiiite one year old when turned off,) 

 that gained in weight over one himdred pounds each in seven weeks, the twelve weighing 

 3,t31U pounds." 



18 A 



