646 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



with abandaiice of litter, the cost of which will be am- 

 ply repaid by the iticreas?d proportion of excellent 

 diirtg thereby obtained. It has, indeed, been fre- 

 qiif;ntly a=sei'Ied, that swine thrive better while fatten- 

 in;!, if they be allowed to wallow, at home, in their 

 own filth, and abroad in mud and wet, because they de- 

 light in this habit; and thence it is assumed as certain, 

 that it tends to their advantage. Such an assertion, 

 however, is rather the 0ir'?prin5 of prejudice than the 

 result of real e.xperience ; we know that animals, 

 when oppressed with heat, will p!un«-e into water in or- 

 der to cool themselves; but it cannot be inferred from 

 this circumstance, that it will b'^ necessarily beneficial 

 to them. In addition, therefore, to some remarks 

 which will be subsequently offer.-d on the structure 

 and situation of the piijgery,* we shall here state, parti- 

 cularly with reference to its connexion with their fat- 

 tening, that a hog sty should be built with the advan- 

 tage of running water, so as to admit sufficient for the 

 swine to drink, if such a situation can be comiaanded ; 

 the floor, or ground, being laid upon a gentle declivity 

 to carry o.i their urine. 



Not only, hovve\"er, should these animals be kept 

 warm and dry while fattening, but they should also be 

 confined, if possible, by themselves; or, at all events, 

 there should be as small a number in the same sty, and 

 as much out of the hearing of the cry or grunt of other 

 hogs as possible ; otherwise, upon their first confine- 

 ment, they will pine and decrease in flesh, notwith- 

 standing they have abundance of food given them. By 

 this means they will be enabled to take more frequent 

 and uninterrupted repose, which greatly contributes to 

 promote their fattening ; beside which, all those incon- 

 veniences will be efiectualiy obviated, which often oc- 

 cur from hogs worrying each other, and from the 

 weaker being deprived by the stronger of their fair pro- 

 portion of food. 



Regularity of feeding should likewise be especially 

 regarded, as it has great influence in facilitating 

 or retarding the fattening of swine ; hence it will be 

 proper to give them a full allowance of food three 

 or four times, or at certain other stated interval^, in the 

 day, as convenience or other circumstances will allow. 

 And, if any animal should have surfeited itself, 

 (which is no unusual occurrence, where due regard is 

 not bestowed on the point last stated, j by eating too 

 large a proportion of food, it will be advisable to give 

 about half an ounce of flour of sulphur in some wash, 

 once or twice in the course of tlse day, for two or three 

 successive days. By this simple remedy their palled 

 appetite will be restored more effectually than by ad- 

 ministering antimony, or any other drug that has been 

 recommended to use in fattening swine ; for, however, 

 such articles may possibly have succeeded in a few 

 instances, it is obvious that they cannot be generally 

 employed with advantage, and may not uiifrequently 

 be productive of hurtful efiects. 



A practice has been for a long time introduced in the 

 county of Essex, though not yet generally followed, of 

 fattening pigs in separate stalls. These are so con- 

 structed, as to admit only one pig each, only allowing 

 room for him to lie down, hut not to turn; they are 

 built with the bottoms on a sloping direction to carry off 

 the filth, and some persons do not give any litter, from 

 an idea that their chewing it might be prejudicial to 

 their thriving. 



The food given is usually barley-meal and water ; 

 and they are found to fiitten far better in these styes, 

 than in the common ones ; which is attributed to their 

 being more quiet, having only to eat and sleep ; it has, 

 indeed, been found, that a hog half fat, when put into 

 one of these cases, has gained fifteen pounds a week in 

 flesh. t 



This experiment has also been tried with success, by 

 Lord Egremont, in Sussex. A hog was confined, on 



* See the part referred to at the close of this article, 

 t Young's Agricultural Survey of Essex, vol. II, p. 343. 



the 4th of March, in a cage made of planks, of which 

 one side was made to move with pegs, so as exactly to 

 fit him, with small hol^s at the bottom for the water to 

 drain, and a door behind to remove the soil. The cage 

 stood upon four feet, about one foot from the ground, 

 and was made to confine the animal so closely, that he 

 could only stand U[) to feed, and lie down upon his 

 belly ; the .sliding partition was extended according as 

 he increased in size. 



This hog when put up weighed eleven stone two 

 pounds, (eight i)nunds to the stone,) and was killed on 

 the 1,3th of .^pril following, when he weighed eighteen 

 stone three pounds, having thus gained seven stone two 

 pounds, live weight, in five weeks and five days. His 

 food consisted of two bushels of barley-meal, and 

 about eighteen buhsels of potatoes ; he was sulkly dur- 

 ing the first two days, and would not eat. The most 

 remarkable part of this experiment, however, is, that 

 s^ven other hogs of the same breed were put up in the 

 common mode, and killed at the same time; and 

 though better fed, were not in equal condition.* 



Lord Egremont has also tried a comparative experi- 

 ment on the value of barley and rice as food for pigs. 

 It IS not stated with sufficient accuracy in the county 

 report in which it is mentioned,! as the respective 

 gross cost is alone stated, without the weights ; but the 

 pecuniary result was in favor of the barley. 



In that experiment the rice was given dry ; hut in an- 

 other it v/as boiled, and the result was as follows : — 



The total weight of ten hogs, put up on ) , ^. ,. 



the 3(1 of November, was - - 5 r,u^o ids. 

 Ditto, on the 30th of December - - - 1,' 



Gain in live weight 



The quantity of rice consumed, was 



Which, being at the rate of five pounds of rice to one 

 pound, live weight, of flesh, clearly shows that rice 

 cannot be used fortius purpose with advantage, unless 

 it can be obtained for a far less price than that at which 

 it is usually sold. 



The P:ggery. 



When the profit arising from the rearing of swine is 

 duly considered, and there is an opportunity of carry- 

 ing on this branch of rural economy to any extent, it 

 will be admitted, that the establishment of a piggery 

 demands nearly as much attention as a dairy. 



A piggery, in the opinion of Mr. Arthur Young, 

 should be in a circle, or it must fail in convenience ; 

 according to his idea, in the centre there should be the 

 boiling or steaming house, with a granary for corn, 

 meal, &c. Around this a range of cisterns ought to be 

 disposed, in divisions, for receiving immediately from 

 the copper, or steam apparatus, and also by tubes from 

 the granaiy. Around these should run a path, then a 

 fence or paling, in which are the troughs, with hang- 

 ing lids, for supplying food directly from the cisterns, 

 on one side, and for hogs feeding on the other ; 

 a range of yard next, and another of cow sheds 

 beyond, and last of all the receptacle i'or the dung. The 

 potato stores, or pyes, should at one end point near to 

 the entrance, and water must be raised to the coppers 

 and cisterns at once byapuinp; a trough, orother con- 

 veyance from the dairy to the cisterns, for milk, whey, 

 &,c. An arrangement like this, he conceives, would 

 be very convenient, while the expense attending it 

 would be inconsiderable ; and great profit might be de- 

 rived, by setting apart a plot of natural or artificial 

 grasses, into which the swine might be turned at plea- 

 sure. " Those," he adds, " who do not possess a con- 

 venient pig apparatus, can have little idea of the great 

 use of it in making manure. This alone becomes an 

 object, that would justify any good farmer in going to 



* Agricultural Sutvey of Sussex, p. 386. 

 t Ibid, p. 369. 



