106 WE FARM FOR A HOBBY 



The pig is tough, and he is a good sport: he will 

 try anything once. But he can not digest powerful 

 cleansing agents, broken glass, tin cans, bottle tops, 

 or match sticks. About the only thing my pigs will 

 not eat is a raw potato. Whether no pigs will, or 

 whether it is a peculiarity of Medlock pigs, I do 

 not know. 



A pig farrowed in March is ready to butcher in 

 December. It should neither be too large, for in 

 that case it will run too much to fat, nor too small, 

 when an undue proportion of its weight will be 

 bone. One hundred and seventy-five to two hun- 

 dred pounds is the ideal weight for home use. We 

 always aim to pick a cold spell for pork butcher- 

 ing: there is more meat on a pig than an ordinary 

 refrigerator will hold, and a lot of it has to be 

 stored in a rat-proofed cage in the cool-cellar. I 

 say we aim at cold weather. Usually the weather 

 breaks and an unprecedented thaw sets in on the 

 day we butcher. I have found the remedy in such 

 cases to lie in a strict attention to Napoleon's rule 

 of "previous preparation." If everything, from the 

 tools to the pickle tub, is ready and in order a 

 two-hundred-pound pig can be worked up and 

 stowed away without any spoilage. 



Of tools one needs two or three sharp butch- 

 er's knives, with a stone and a steel to keep them 

 edged. We use a light block and tackle designed 

 for meat on one heel, the hay rope on the other, 



