432 THE PIGS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



of nutriment as it could have utilised, the process would be 

 slower, the manure for a given bulk less concentrated ; but the 

 result might be profitable instead of the reverse, and we should 

 find for our offal com and vegetables a better market than we 

 could obtain outside the farm. 



We have heard it stated that the cottager's pig is not profit- 

 able to him ; that it would be better if he neither had his 

 allotment, his pig, nor, as a few favoured individuals have, a 

 cow. And so far back as 1842 Mr. Edwin Chadwick stated, in 

 his sanatory report, that a large mass of evidence supported the 

 opinion of one of his witnesses that pig-keeping and cow- 

 keeping were injurious to the condition of the labourer ; that 

 the labouring man pays more dearly for his bacon than he would 

 if he purchased it ready made, &c. We are glad to know that a 

 different opinion prevails at the present time. Competition for 

 the labourer's service renders it desirable that he should have 

 home attractions ; and where shall we find them but in a decent 

 cottage, good garden, and allotment, and, if possible, the oppor- 

 tunity for keeping a cow ? Now, with the allotment the pig is a 

 necessity, it is the medium for converting the produce into cash 

 and manure ; and, apart from political economy, it is good for 

 the labourer to keep his pig, even supposing that he pays as 

 much for his bacon as though he bought it. The pig and garden 

 are his savings bank, into which he puts the value of his spare 

 time and the savings of his weekly wages, which otherwise 

 might go to the publican ; and what a source of interest is the 

 pig ! — how it is cared for by the whole family, how little it lives 

 upon in its youthful days, and how carefully is every scrap of 

 waste matter taken care of for its use ! Then the small and dis- 

 used potatoes, boiled up and mixed with barley meal, also the 

 produce of the allotment, finish off the pig, whose sides 

 eventually embellish the cottage, and, as Mr. Sturt so well puts 

 it, form there the very best furniture. 



We believe that pigs, under favourable conditions, can be 

 made to pay, and leave us valuable manure ; but we must have 

 the right sort of animal to start with, judicious management 

 throughout its early life, and careful feeding to its close. Let 

 us inquire shortly how these conditions can be best secured. 

 First and foremost we must secure a good sort; that is, an 



