506 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XLI. 



frequently tasted it in both Spain and Portugal, where it is commonly eaten ; 

 and we have often seen mutton exposed for sale in the London markets, 

 which we should imasrine to be far inferior. 



Although, having placed deer at the head of the chapter, it might be 

 presumed that we intended to offer some details of their management, yet 

 their breeding, when not running wild in the forest, is so exclusively con- 

 fined to the parks of gentlemen, that the subject cannot be supposed to 

 interest farmers ; nor are we sufficiently acquainted with the charge of 

 maintaining them to offer accurate accounts of their cost. It however 

 deserves inquiry how far they might be rendered a profitable stock ; and it 

 would not be difficult to ascertain the exact degree of their merit upon 

 that point. We, therefore, mention them merely as a hint to those who 

 possess large tracts of unprofitable heath and mountain-land, that, were it 

 enclosed, the price of venison is now so extravagantly dear, as probably to 

 pay better for their rearing than that of sheep. 



Chapter XLI. 

 ON SWINE. 



Pork, both in its fresh and salted state, is an article of such universal 

 consumption, and the hog is such a profitable consumer of every eatable 

 species of offal, that pigs are reared not only by every farmer, but by every 

 cottager who can find means to feed them ; for there is no animal which 

 yields so great a quantity of flesh in return for the kind of food which it con- 

 sumes, and it has been not unjustly called, " the poor man's stock." This, 

 together with the fecundity of the sow, which generally produces from seven 

 to ten young ones at a birth, and that not unfrequenlly twice within the 

 year, tends, notwithstanding the demand, to keep down the price at market to 

 such a rate as would leave but little profit if reared upon purchased food. 

 But, as they will eat every refuse of animal or vegetable substance from the 

 kitchen or the stable, even if spoiled or trodden under-foot by other ani- 

 mals, thev are thus fed at comparatively little expense during their growth ; 

 they are also tended with little trouble ; and this, combined with their 

 leaving nothing to be lost, and producing large quantities of dung of a qua- 

 litv only inferior to that of sheep, renders them so valuable to the farmer, 

 that if the sale of the meat repays the cost of its production, it is com- 

 monly thought sufficient. 



Although thus apparently careless of the quality, provided the quantity 

 be sufficient to satisfy his appetite, and swallowing everything that comes 

 in his way, vet, if allowed a choice of diet, the hog has the palate of a true 

 gourmand, and always selects that which is the most nutritive : if turnips 

 and potatoes be offered, he will be sure to choose the latter, and he infinitely 

 prefers beans and peas to either oats or barley. His life is, in this country, 

 rendered far shorter than the age to which he would probably attain in the 

 course of nature ; for, when in a wild state, he has been known to live 

 more than thirty years, whereas here he is usually slaughtered for bacon 

 before he is two years old, and even if kept as a boar, is killed for brawn 

 before he reaches the age of five. Sows, indeed, may be allowed to breed 

 longer, but they are generally put up to fatten before they are three 

 years old. 



