Live Stcck. Swine Methods of fattening of. 741 



jlderably Icfs on one of a fmall fize.* A ru;g put up to fatten in good condition* 

 (and they fhould never be put up in the contrary ftate, ) which when fat will weigh 

 twenty fee re,, will con fume in the proportion of fix or feven bu-fhels of peafe.-j- 



It has been already fuggefted, as highly important in the fattening of animals,to 

 have them,occafionally weighed, in o/der to determine how the food anfwers with 

 them as well as to afcertain, the progrefs they are making. For the large forts of 

 ftock% machines of the nature of thofe ufed on roads are fixed up and employed, 

 but for many fmal! forts of animals, fuch as fheep, hogs, and other fimilar kinds,, 

 one on the principle oi the common fteei-yard has been contrived,which is found to 

 be perfedly convenient. In it A A A A, is a ftrong wooden frame, with fteel 

 centres, in which the pivots of the lever are hung. 



On the fliort iide of the lever is fufpended a coop, furrounded by ftrong net 

 work, in which the animal intended to-be weighed : is placed ; the point of fufpen- 

 fion is connected with the coop by means of two curved iron rods, which at the 

 fame time form the head to the fame ; a common fcale is hung on the longer fide 

 of the lever. By this contrivance any fmall animal may be very eafily and expe- 

 ditioufly weighed, and at the fame time with a fufficient degree of accuracy. 



In regard to the method of giving the different materials that are employed in the 

 fattening of fwine, there are different opinions entertained ; fome contending that 

 they fhould be ufed as-much as poiTible in a folid form, wafli, as drink, being oc- 

 eaiionally ufed ; while others prefer the contrary method as the mod beneficial : 

 as in the latter mode there will be lefs time taken up by the hogs in feeding, and 

 of courfe more left for them to fleep and reft in, as well as more economy in 

 the food, and the labour of giving it, it is probably the moft advifable. It has 

 indeed been obferved by Mr. Young, in his excellent Calendar of Huibandry, that 

 the moft profitable method of converting corn of any kind into food for hogs is 

 to grind it into meal, and mix this with water in citterns, in the proportion of five 

 bufhels of meal to one hundred gallons of water, ftirring it well feveral times a day 

 for three weeks in cold weather, or for a fortnight in a warmer feafon, by which it 

 will have fermented well, and become acid; till which time it is not ready to give.&quot; 

 This mixture fhou Id always &quot; be ftirred immediately before feeding,&quot; and &quot; two 

 or three cifterns ihould be kept fermenting in fucceilion, that no neceftity may 

 occur of giving it not duly prepared. The difference in profit between feeding in 

 this manner, and giving the grain whole or only ground, is fo great, that whoever 



* Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. II. f Ibid. 



