514 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XLL 



they may be fed, together with distillers' or brewers' grains and bran, until 

 they become strong enough to seek for subsistence in the farm-yard, as 

 store-pigs. 



Porkers, however, which are intended for the table at an early age, 

 should never be fed upon any thing but dairy produce, with meal, though 

 some persons add a little boiled potatoes and parsnips, and should never be 

 allowed to touch the refuse of the kitchen ; for, although the wash may be 

 very nutritive, and the pigs will thrive upon it, yet the meat, though per- 

 haps looking well, acquires, when dressed, a stronc? flavour, with a sort of 

 greasy appearance, which is any thing but pleasant*. It should, therefore, 

 be kept solely for the use of the sow. They are usually ready for the market 

 at about four months old, and generally weigh from seven to eight stone ; 

 if kept until older, for the purpose of increasing their weight, although that 

 object may be gained, yet the flesh will be rendered coarse, and the price 

 proportionably lessened. Those which are really what are called " dairy- 

 fed," and considered as a still greater delicacy, ought to be exclusively fed 

 upon the milk of the dam, plentifully aided by that of the cow — as skim- 

 milk — and should never be weaned ; but allowed to remain with the sow 

 until about three months old, at which time they should be killed, and will 

 commonly weigh from 4^ to 5^ stone. 



The object of rearing store-figs being merely to support them until they 

 reach the proper age for being fattened, it is immaterial upon what food 

 they are nourished, provided it be abundant. They may, indeed, be seen 

 continually prowling along the lanes and ditches, in search of any thing 

 they can find, and they devour every sort of refuse. Though sometimes 

 kept in styes with yards to run in, and fed upon grains and roots, both 

 raw and steamed, or pea-wash t, they are yet very commonly let to run 

 loose about the farm and straw-yard, where their only dependence arises 

 from what they can pick up from tlie sweepings of the barn-floor, and the 

 refuse of the turnips and other food given to soiled cattle. They are, how- 

 ever, so thrifty that, when not kept in too great numbers, they find such 

 comfortable subsistence, that at the end of a twelvemonth they require but 

 a few weeks' feeding on corn to fit them for the butcher. Indeed, they are 

 not unfrequently in such good condition as to be slaughtered for farm use, 

 without any care, and their flesh is usually of excellent quality. 



They are sometimes grazed upon pasture land J; but more frequently soiled 



* In proof of this, the writer some time ajijo caused two younp pigs, of the same sow, 

 to be fed when weaned, the one with skim-milk, and the other with pot-liquor, in which 

 pollard and barley-meal were equally mixed. They were killed at four months old, 

 being then quite fat, and that fed upon the wash was rather the heavier of the two: joints 

 of each were roasted, and the remainder pickled ; but the flesh of the latter animal was, 

 in both cases, rank, while that of the former was extremely delicate. 



f According to Arthur Young, the best mode of converting any kind of pulse or corn, 

 is to grind it into meal, and convert it into wash in the proportion of 5 bushels of meal 

 to 100 gallons of water. This to be well stirred up several times in the day during 

 summer, and for three weeks in the colder season ; at the expiration of which time it 

 will have fermented and become acid, and is then fit fur use. It should be stirred up 

 every time before feeding ; and, if the practice be continued, of course more cisterns 

 than one must be employed in its preparation. It is, however, only fit for stores ; and 

 if not at first used with some more solid food — the pea-wash, particularly — is apt to 

 occasion scouring. If used alone, we should also say, that two-thirds of the water is 

 more than sufficient for the same quantity of meal. 



Grains, also, if pressed down, and kept for a few months, undergo a kind of fermen- 

 tation, and are much more serviceable to hogs than when used fresh. 



\ At Petworth, they are killed after grazing in the park without anything but grass; 

 being turned out in May and slaughtered in October and November in good condition. 

 — Sussex Report, p. 385 



