512 BRITISH HUSBANDRY, [Cb. XLI. 



year ; for she should not be allowed to farrow in the depth of winter, as 

 the young are then extremely tender, and thrive with great difficulty in 

 cold weather : the months of February and August are therefore to be 

 preferred for farrowing, and those of May and November for being put to 

 the boar. 



When breeders get hold of a good kind of stock, they are too apt to fol- 

 low it up by breeding what is called " in-and-in" with the same family : a 

 practice which, though sanctioned by Bakewell, cannot be successfully per- 

 severed in ; for, if the system be continued, they will become bad feeders, 

 and although they may deceive the eye by retaining their shape and apparent 

 good properties, yet they, in fact, soon grow delicate, and fall off in weight. 

 Experience has, indeed, proved this in numberless instances upon various 

 animals ; and it is said that one person who tried it upon pigs, brought 

 them to such a state, that the sows at last gave up breeding almost en- 

 tirely, and when they did casually have a litter, the young things were so 

 small and tender, that they died almost as soon as they were born. Tiiere 

 can, indeed, be little doubt that the doctrine, once so fashionable, of 

 breeding from your own stock when you can find no better than your own, 

 for that " best can only beget best," is false. It has, indeed, been since so 

 ably refuted, that any further discussion of the subject would be fruitless ; 

 and we may safely assume that the progeny of a male and female, not 

 related, possess more strength and vigour than those which are both of the 

 same family*. 



FARROWING, 



It not unfrequently happens, that a young sow will eat her young ones : 

 she should, therefore, be carefully watched and well fed, when about to 

 farrow ; which may be known by her carrying straw in her mouth to 

 form her bed. It is a good precaution to sponge the backs of the pigs imme- 

 diately after they are born with a strong infusion of aloes in lukewarm 

 water, as its bitter taste will prevent her from destroying them. Care 

 should also be taken to separate her from other pigs : the boar particularly, 

 should not be allowed to come near the young, or he will infallibly devour 

 them ; and she should be confined to her sty for about a week after having 

 farrowed. She should be lodged dry and warm, and be well littered, but 

 not too profusely during the first few days ; and the straw should be cut 

 short, to prevent the pigs from nestling under it, in which case she is apt 

 to overlay and crush them. If the sow be very heavy and have many young, 

 the accident is indeed very common, and should be guarded against by 

 placing an open frame on each side of her, under which the young pigs may 

 run ; or, if a strong rail be elevated a few inches from the ground, it 

 will answer nearly the same purpose. 



The product is so extremely various, that no calculation can be formed of 

 the number which may be expected to be farrowed ; but twenty swine are 

 estimated to produce 150 pigs, or, on an average, seven pigs and a half 

 each, for their first litter. Instances are, indeed, recorded of a sow which, 

 in twenty litters, produced the extraordinary number of 355 pigs ; as well 

 as of another liaving farrowed thirty-seven at one birth, and from fifteen 

 to twenty are not very uncommonf ; but about half that number, after the 

 first litter, is mote usual, and very large litters are not always the most 



* See a paper by T. A. Knight, Esq. in Communications to the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, vol. ii. p. 186; and Sir John Sebriglit's Essay on improving the breeds of 

 domestic animals, pp. 11 to 14. 



f Wilson on the Hog, Quart. Jouru, of Agriculture, vol, iii. p. 36. 



