664 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



rnenteo thoroughly tainted with garlic, even to 

 the marrow in the bones, that my house servants 

 refused to eat it. — A bad prospect (or my brother, 

 whose wagon came the (bunh day, and in despair 

 I killed his beef, which was beautiful to the eye. 

 1 did not at the time pay much attention to a 

 remark of his feeder, who observed th.at the steer 

 had not eat any thing since the heifer was killed ; 

 my trouble was, the certainty of my brother's 

 disappointment, but to my great joy, I soon receiv- 

 ed his letter of thanks saying, that a more juicy, 

 tender, and fine flavored beefj could not be. 



Take two lambs of equal age from a garlic pas- 

 ture, kill one immediately, and the flesh will be so 

 tainted with the garlic, that no person of tolerable 

 taste can eat it ; keep the second from all food for 

 one night or ten hours, and there will not be the 

 slightest garlic taste. It is well known that cattle 

 fed upon oil cake, cannot be immediately killed ; 

 but if'kept fi-om this food for two or three days, the 

 oily taste is removed. 



The foregoing facts are known to every expe- 

 rienced farmer, and they have convinced me, that 

 hogs fed upon corn for two weeks, are much bet- 

 ter than two months, for the plain reason that the 

 flesh is equally good, and the expense is less. 



Hogs, as generally managed, are not only'the 

 most troublesome, but the most costly flesh we 

 consume, and I have for many years been in pur- 

 suit of a plan to lighten the cost of their flesh 

 which is so absolutely necessary for the establish- 

 ment of every Marylander. I flatter myself that 

 1 now see my way clear; for after two years' trial, 

 I am well satis/ied, that (he use of cymblins, 

 pumpkins, ruta baga and clover will enable me 

 to send more corn to market, and with two weeks 

 feeding upon that precious grain, my bacon will 

 not yield to that of any person. No branch of 

 rural economy requires more attention than feeding 

 our various kinds of stock. Our northern friends 

 laugh, and say, that in Maryland the hogs eat all 

 our corn, and our negroes eat all our hogs. This 

 is too true to be denied, and if my mite can in your 

 opinion be of any use to the public, it is at your 

 service. 



As early as the season vv'll admit, I prepare 

 ground for cymblins, or squashes (cucurbita veru- 

 cosa.) Rich land is best for all purposes, but in 

 this case, it is the first object to choose a place con- 

 venient to your hogs' range. After ploughing and 

 preparing the ground in the best manner, lay it off 

 by a single furrow, four feet each way, and at the 

 intersection, manure highly with well prepared 

 manure, mixing it well with the soil, by spade 

 or hoe. Upon this ground so prepared, plant 

 cymblins (and the bunch kind I think best,) in 

 every other row and hill, which will give to you 

 at eight feet apart each way, about 680 hills to the 

 acre. After planting the cymblins, proceed to 

 plant corn in the rows running north and south, 

 that is only in one direction, between every row 

 of cymblins, and which being eight by four apart, 

 will give you about 1361 hills of corn to the acre. 

 It is unnecessary to remind the careful farmer, that 

 the most scrupulous attention should be paid to 

 this ground, while the vines are young, for after 

 they begin to fruit, and run, nothing can be done, 

 except to pull by hand the strong high weeds. — 

 When the fruit appears, be careful to mark for 

 future seed, such as you wish to propagate, for it 

 is desirable to have early fruit. 



The drought of last summer will not be soon for- 

 gotten, and yet from less than an acre of unfavor- 

 able ground, I kept in high condition more than 

 60 head of hugs of all ages (sucklings excepted ;) 

 they had not any grain, and but little grass. It 

 was our rule to take a certain number of rowa 

 every day, so that there was an interval of five 

 days, and all Iruit as large as a man's fist was 

 pulled. It would sometimes happen, that fruit 

 was neglected until it became hard, but not dry ; in 

 this case, the feeder cracked them upon his cart 

 wheel. — A careful and steady person should be 

 appointed to pull, one who will neither neglect the 

 fruit, or tread upon the vines, for if well managed 

 they will contiime bearing until your pompions are 

 ready, and these will carry you on to the fortnight 

 before the intended day of killing. 



I claim no merit from the cymblin culture, it 

 justly belongs to Tench Tilghinan, Esq. of Tal- 

 bot, and other gentlemen of that county, but, be- 

 lieve me, that while I continue to raise my own 

 pork, 1 never will omit the cymblin culture. Let 

 us however not forget the pompion as an able, 

 and almost necessary auxiliary, and of which there 

 are many varieties ; the long yellow is, I think, lor 

 many reasons, the best. In 1818 my cymblin 

 patch was small, and as my object was not only 

 to have fat pork but to save corn, I began early 

 with the pompions; yet hogs could not be fatter, 

 and my slock of old hams, can yet testify the 

 quality of the meat. Yet cymblins and pompions 

 are not alone a sufficient substitute lor corn ; some 

 food is necessary to carry you through the winter 

 and sprintr, until your clover and cymblins are 

 ready. The ruta baga is an excellent vegetable, 

 which will supply your want. We now know 

 that they are infinitely more nutritious than the 

 common turnip, that they are sufficiently hardy 

 to remain in the ground through the winter, and 

 yet better, if buried in small heaps in a well shaded 

 northern aspect. They will be found in high 

 preservation lo July. 



Clover is less injured by hogs than by any other 

 stock, by sheep the most, and hogs alter a lew 

 days will not root it up ; but it is desirable that 

 every farm should be provided with a hog range 

 well enclosed, uniting wood land for acorns and 

 shade, bottomland for water, rooming and wallow- 

 ing, and contiguity to clover. Ten hogs will not 

 injure the growth of timber, as much as one cow. 

 The hog indeed eats all the acorns he touches, 

 but in his rootings he buries great numbers to 

 a secure depth : the cow not only nips, and of 

 course kills all the young sprouts of nuts, which 

 she perseveringly hunts after, but she browsea 

 upon and tears down young limbs, and rubs and 

 twiss young sprouts from stumps. 



If I have extended my remarks beyond a mere 

 recommendation of the cymblin culture, and with 

 a view lo save grain, which is always a cash ar- 

 ticle ; it is also fi-om a wish to encourage persona 

 who reside upon poor lands adjoining extensive 

 wood-ranges, to turn their attention to rearing hogs 

 upon a large scale. 



For the cymblin, pompion, and ruta baga, biat 

 little land is necessary, and for the two first arti- 

 cles, but little manure. Clover is certainly of great 

 service, but if there is plenty of the other vegeta- 

 bles, it may safely be dispensed with. I would 

 give you my opinion of the quantity of ground 

 necessary for twenty hogs, but fear I have already 

 trespassed on your time. 



