220 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



until at last it will not pay for his food, and he should then be immedi- 

 ately slaughtered. 



The Chemestry of Pig-Feeding. — In 1851-2, with the view of ascertain- 

 ing, among other points, the comparative vahie of various kinds of food 

 used for fattening pigs, Mr. J.. 1>. Lawes, of Rothamsted, Herts, the 

 eminent chemist and manufacturer of super-phosphate of lime, under- 

 took a series of experiments on a large scale, recorded in a paper illus- 

 trated by a series of elaborate tables, which occupy upwards of eighty 

 pai^es of the fourteenth volume of the "Journal of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society." This paper, of the highest possible value to the scien- 

 tific agriculturist, few plain larmers or mncy pig-feeders would have the 

 courage to read, or would be able fully to understand, if they did. We 

 shall, therefore, endeavor to give the results briefly and plainly; they 

 fully confirm the opinions of the most successful pig-feeders. 



The food employed in these experiments was composed as follows: — 

 1. Equal weights of beans and lentils; 2. Indian corn; 3. Bran. The 

 food was accurately weighed ; and the animals were put into the scales 

 every fourteen days. 



For the first series of experiments, forty animals, as nearly as possible 

 of the same character, and age about ten months, were purchased, and 

 divided into twelve pens of three pigs each, and were all fed alike for 

 twelve days, changed from pen to pen, and the unruh^ ones whipped, so 

 as to put down the tyrants and enable them all to start fair in the feed- 

 ing race for weight. When fairly started, twelve dietaries were pre- 

 pared from three standard food-stuffs, arranged as follows : — 1. Bean 

 and lentil mixture, an unlimited allowance ; 2. Two pounds of Indian 

 corn per pig per day, and an unlimited allowance of the beans and 

 lentils; 3. Two pounds of bran per pig per day, and beans and lentils 

 unlimited ; 4. Two pounds of Indian corn, two pounds of bran, and 

 the bean and lentil mixture unlimited; 5. Indian corn alone, unlimited; 

 6. Two pounds of beans and lentils, and unlimited Indian corn allow- 

 ance ; 7. Two pounds of bran per day, and unlimited Indian corn 

 allowance; 8. Two pounds of bean and lentil mixture, two pounds of 

 bran, and Indian corn unlimited ; 9. Two pounds of bean and lentil 

 mixture, and bran unlimited; 10. Two pounds of Indian corn-meal, 

 and bran unlimited; 11. Two pounds of bean and lentil mixture, two 

 pounds of Indian corn, and bran unlimited; 12. Bean and lentil mix- 

 ture, Indian corn-meal and bran, each separately and unlimited. 



This food was duly mixed with water. The animals were fed three 

 times a day ; viz., early in the morning, at noon, and at five o'clock in 

 the evening. The limited food was mixed with a small quantity of that 

 given ad libilum in the first two feeds of the day. Great care was 

 taken in the management of the supply of food, both that the troughs 

 should generally be cleared out before fresh food was put into them, 

 and that the pigs should always have a liberal supply within their 

 reach. 



In one of the pens two of the pigs having become unwell from large 

 swellings in their necks, which affected their breathing, a mixture was 

 prepared, consisting of twenty pounds of finely-sifted coal-ashes, four 

 pounds of common salt, and one pound of super-phosphate of lime, and 



