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rearing of pigsfor the production of bacon, the county from which the 'Wiltshire' 

 side takes its name was visited. At the town of Calne, in Wiltshire^ is located the 

 curing house of the old established firm of bacon curers, that of the C. & T. Harris Co. 

 No name in the English bacon trade is better known than that of Harris & Co., and 

 no make of bacon is more favourably known. Harris Wiltshire bacon commands a 

 fancy price in all parts of Great Britain, and for many years regular large shipments 

 have been coming to Canada, in response to a demand from families that believe thera 

 is no other to campare with English bacon. 



Harmony between Packer and Feeder. 



Most of the farms in the neighbourhood of Calne feed pigs in large numbers and 

 practically all go through the Harris factory. Here, strange to say, very few pigs are 

 bred, the feeders prefering to buy stores at three to five months old. An interesting 

 arid profitable tour was made among feeders in the neighbourhood. It was interesting 

 to find a marked uniformity in the ideas and methods of feeders as well as a very 

 general feeling of sympathy between the feeders and the packing company. This com- 

 fortnble and very profitable state of affairs is the result of harmonious co-operation 

 instituted largely by the packers who conscious of their entire dependence on the 

 supplies and condition of hogs have done much to encourage production of the right 

 sort. ^Fessrs. Harris & Co. have interested themselves in cheapening production but 

 in all they have done have never lost sight of quality. Some years ago they made 

 careful tests of breeds and crosses of pigs and after determining the superiority of 

 the Yorkshire cross undertook to supply boars of this breed at the lowest possible cost 

 on easy terms of payment. The next step was to encourage production in quantity 

 and quality of pigs. To accomplish this the Wilts County Council was induced to take 

 up a series of pig feeding experiments and demonstrations in cheap production. A 

 committee of ten members consisting chiefly of farmers was formed. Contributions 

 to carry on the work were made by Lord Lansdowne whose estate joins Calne, the 

 Harris Company and the County Council. A thoroughly capable and painstaking 

 secretary was appointed to keep records, while a son of one of the leading farmers 

 was entrusted with the actual feeding. The tests and demonstrations were carried on 

 for five years after which time the secretary and scientific adviser gave courses of 

 lectures throughout the country and distributed reports. 



Feeding Experiments. 



During the five years 720 pigs were fed from store to finished condition. No 

 special care was taken to select stores, which were of no special breed, and were bought 

 in the manner customery among the great majority of the farmers in the district. 

 For the feeding tests comfortable and sanitary pens were erected each to accomodate 

 ten pigs. The foods used were those commonly employed in that part of England and 

 consisted of the following: corn, barley, oats, peas, and bean chop, bran, separated 

 milk, potatoes and mangles as also a number of proprietory foods. The dry food was 

 soaked in water in the proportion of one peck of the former to 5 gallons of the latter, 

 except when separated milk was used it replaced its own volume of water in the 

 mixture. The potatoes were boiled and the mangels sliced. The pigs were fed three 

 times a day as much each time as they could clean up. 



The weights of pigs at the commencement of fattening ranged from about 90 to 

 140 pounds. The live weights when finished ranged from 13.3 to 236 pounds. The 

 feeding periods ranged from 7 to 14 weeks. An examination of the exhaustive report 

 of the tests shows the following conclusions: — 



GAINS FRO^r niFFERENT DIETS. 



The diets which gave the highest weekly increase in live weight were:— 



1 Barley, separated milk and potatoes 15-8 lbs. 



2 Corn, separated milk and potatoes 15-1 lbs. 



