3o RURAL DENMARK 



the insuring of stock or stacks, a grievous murrain 

 promptly breaks out among the former, or the latter 

 fall a prey to fire. 



Mr. Pontoppidan breeds all his own pigs, which 

 in race are Danish crossed with Yorkshire. His 

 sows are only allowed to produce five or six litters, 

 after which they are fatted to a weight of from 400 

 to 500 lbs. Danish. Observation has shown him 

 that after five or six litters the sows both eat and 

 overlie their offspring ; also that the pigs born 

 between the second and the sixth litters are the 

 strongest and do the best. His principal feeding- 

 stuff is maize, but he also uses broken wheat or 

 rye from the English and Black Sea mills, 500 lbs. 

 of skim milk daily, turnips, kohl-rabi, swedes, and 

 mangolds. Lastly the fatting pigs receive amongst 

 their other foods all the blood from the Aarhus 

 slaughter-houses, which is pressed into cakes and 

 mixed with salt and borax. Of these cakes that 

 are stored in racks, nearly 1000 lbs. are used daily. 

 Their cost is three-eighths of a penny per lb., and 

 they contain 35 per cent, of albumen. 



Mr. Pontoppidan considers that if it were not for 

 the pigs his farming would be unremunerative, as the 

 cows only just pay their expenses. He added, what 

 I was surprised to hear, as the information I was able 

 to gather did not corroborate the statement, that there 

 is general dissatisfaction with cows throughout Den- 

 mark. Still, he keeps 400 of these animals in addition 

 to the 1200 pigs. 



The pig-pens are arranged in a large, round build- 

 ing, and in all my agricultural experience I have 

 seldom seen a more remarkable sight than they 

 afforded. First we went upstairs, where live the 



