23 



was announced and' such pigs of the right sort as they could buy were purchased. Of 

 course there was no bantering in the purchasing done by this firm. The old system 

 of selling at fairs by private bargain is loosing favour as it is felt that buyers who 

 take no risk, have been getting too much of the profit, even more than the packers in 

 many cases. Buying by weight is rapidly coming into vogue and it is felt that it will 

 not be long before markets are conducted in many districts on the auction principle 

 as in England and Scotland. 



As already stated, fat pigs in the northern part of Ireland are sold dressed. 

 They are brought to weekly markets and sold according to weight at the fixed price of 

 the day. In some cases the farmer kills his own pigs, while in others, the job is done 

 by a travelling butcher who hangs them up at one shilling apiece. This system of 

 marketing is general throughout the north of Ireland, even in towns where pork curing 

 establishments are in operation. The system is saticsfactory alike to seller and buyer 

 as the business is done in a straight and open manner, the farmer delivering the goods 

 and receiving the cash as he would do in selling grain, potatoes, butter or other pro- 

 ducts at the market price without scheming or bantering. 



Bacon Curing. 



Irish cured bacon and hams are well known and highly prized in the British 

 market. Many of the curing houses are conducted by old established firms that guard 

 with jealous eye the reputation of their products. They not only select with the 

 greatest care the sort of pigs they use, but they exercise great caution in the system 

 of curing followed so as to secure the utmost uniformity in the goods bearing estab- 

 lished brands. 



To encourage the production of only first-class bacon pigs the old firm of Henry 

 Denny & Sons distribute freely at markets leaflets of instruction. Following is a copy 

 of a sample leaflet: — 



Instructions to Pig Eaisers. 



Don't breed from a badly formed, poor quality sow, a portion of every litter 

 reared by such is almost certain to inherit the bad qualities of the mother and 

 when marketed classify as ' Unfinished.' The hest animals, male and female, should 

 be selected for breeding purposes, the results pay better and are more satisfactory 

 every way. 



Commence to fatten your pigs immediately after weaning, and if they are 

 well bred and properly fed and attended to, they should scale live weight about 

 ] cwt. 3 qrs. 18 lbs. (214 lbs.) at five months old. 



The iest food is barley meal and milk. An excellent food, and probably the 

 most economical also, is maize (corn) meal, potatoes, and milk in the proportion 

 of two parts by weight of meal to one part of potatoes. The proper proportion of 

 milk to give is from 2 to 3 gallons to the stone (14 lbs.) of solid food, and you 

 cannot fatten pigs profitably without milk. 



Separated milk if not pasteurized should be used prefcetly fresh, there is no 

 difiiculty about this, if the farmer has a separator of his own and keeps the vessels 

 scrupulously clean. Separated milk from the creamery should be pasteurized 

 there. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that pasteurized separated milk is 

 good food for animals, whereas if not pasteurized, and even one day old, it is in 

 many cases positively injurious. 



Among the very worst finishing foods are turnips, mangels, and brewery or 

 distillery grains ; they are most uneconomical foods also, having very poor f att-en- 

 ing properties. Every pig fattened on these will classify as ' Unfinished ' in our 

 hanging house. 



classification of pigs. 



Sixes. — These are pigs, sometimes well finished but only weighing live weight 

 about 1, 2, 19 (187 lbs.) and under, and at the time when they are not wanted, 

 it will pay the farmers to feed them for a few weeks longer. 



