472 FAKMING FOR LADIES, [chap. xxiv. 



Thus, if the hog be kept to a proper age, 

 well-fed, and made into bacon, the flesh is not 

 only as firm as that of beef or mutton, but so 

 much more nutritive, that ten ounces of it will 

 go further than a pound of any other meat in 

 the support of a working man : to which may 

 be added the united testimony of medical 

 men as to its wholesomeness, and its almost 

 constant use at breakfast by persons of the 

 most delicate appetite. 



Before touching on the process of making 

 bacon, we must, however, describe the sties 

 in which the swine ought to be housed. We 

 say "ought to be," for, not uncommonly, they 

 are literally pigged under any kind of shed 

 fixed in some filthy corner of a yard; and 

 that, not only from inattention to their health 

 and comfort, but also from a very prevalent 

 idea that " they love to wallow in the dirt," 

 than which nothing can be more fallacious ; 

 for, when wild, they naturally breed in marshy 

 places, and seek the mire rather for the cool- 

 ing of their skin than for the sake of the mud. 

 No animal is better pleased at being well 

 scrubbed with soap and water — which ought 

 frequently to be done for him — nor more 



