1 64 BRITISH DAIRYING. 



farm, and eats up various things that would otherwise hardly 

 be utilised at all. 



The value of whey is variously estimated for pig-feeding 

 purposes. Some farmers consider it is worth as many pounds 

 sterling as they have cows in the herd. At the cheese factories 

 one halfpenny per gallon is usually charged for it, which 

 amounts to pretty much the same thing. We may take it, 

 therefore, that the whey is considered to be worth about ^50 

 per annum where fifty cows are kept for cheese-making. No 

 doubt it realises this in some cases, but not in all not, 

 perhaps, in the majority of cases. 



It is most of all useful where pig-breeding is a salient point 

 on a dairy farm that is, it is more useful for store pigs than 

 for fattening ones. Fresh whey is better than sour whey for 

 fattening purposes; for, if it goes sour, the sugar in it is 

 changed, and so far is less valuable as a fattening agent. For 

 this reason farmhouse whey is better than factory whey, as a 

 rule, because it is fresher. 



Pig-feeding as a rule is not a very profitable business. Pig- 

 breeding is generally very much better. They both vary, how- 

 ever, and it sometimes occurs that breeding is not at all profit- " 

 able, while feeding pays pretty well. Seldom is it that both of 

 them pay at the same time equally well. 



If farmers would study the agricultural returns each year 

 as they are issued, they would be able to draw a pretty safe 

 inference as to whether pig-breeding would pay or not in the 

 following year. When young pigs at weaning-time are worth 

 a guinea a-piece, they are considered to pay tolerably, but when 

 they are over plentiful, and worth ten shillings instead, pay is 

 out of the question. These remarks refer to the ordinary com- 

 mercial pigs of the country, and not to the pedigree herds. 



Pigs are fond of wallowing in the mire, of course ; they are 

 likewise fond of roaming at large, in obedience to their own 

 sweet will. These are propensities inherited from their ances- 

 tors, who were, like ours, in a feral condition some thousands of 

 years ago, but they are not at all desirable in a domesticated 

 state. 



