460 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. Xxiii. 



course of the day, to the sow for sucking. 

 The product is so extremely various that no 

 certain expectation can be formed of the 

 number which may be farrowed : fifteen to 

 twenty are not uncommon ; in one instance 

 even thirty-seven have been littered at a 

 birth ! and the readers of Dryden and Virgil 

 may call to their recollection the omen offered 

 to JEneas on the foundation of Rome : — 



" Wond'rous to tell ! she lay along the ground : 

 Her well-fed offspring at her udders hung ; 

 She white herself, and white her thirty young!" 

 ViRG. yEN. b. viii. 



From seven to ten are, however, a fair aver- 

 age ; but a moderate litter is the best, as 

 when a great number are born, several will 

 be found weak and under-sized. Singular as 

 it may appear, the sow is not always furnished 

 with the same number of teats, and only one 

 pig can be supported on each, which they 

 appropriate to themselves separately and re- 

 tain possession until weaned. Within about 

 eight weeks, or rather less, the sow's milk 

 begins to fail, and her young ones, if left 

 with her, will fall off in condition; they 

 should therefore be weaned before that time : 



