982 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



Condition, and your hogs will grow and thrive at but little 

 expense. 



Fattening. As "the chief end" of a hog is to become fat, 

 and the price he will sell for depends in a great measure on the 

 degree of fatness, it becomes a question of importance to know 

 when and how we can best fatten our hogs. Probably no rule 

 can be laid down that will be best for all farmers to follow, but 

 each should decide for himself what is the best for him. 



The plan of fattening spring pigs for a fall or winter market 

 has much to recommend it. 



1st. It enables the farmer to realize sooner on the capital 

 invested, illustrating the proverb that the "nimble sixpence is 

 better than the slow shilling." 



2d. We can make cheaper meat from a young animal than 

 from an older one. A certain amount of food must always be 

 expended in supplying the waste of the system, and the more 

 we can hasten the maturity of an animal the less will be the 

 amount of food expended in merely supplying the waste. Even 

 if a pig weighed two hundred pounds at nine months old and 

 four hundred pounds at eighteen, there would be a greater profit 

 in selling at the first than at the latter period at the same price 

 per pound, because it would take much less food to produce the 

 first than the last two hundred pounds. The fact, however, is, 

 that it is easier to make a pig weigh three hundred pounds at 

 nine months old than five hundred at eighteen, and yet the hog 

 must consume much more food during the second period than 

 the first period. 



3d. As there is always more or less risk of loss from dis- 

 ease, the shortening of the period of feeding will correspondingly 

 reduce the risk. 



How shall pigs be managed so as to make them large and 

 fat enough to bring a good price in the market at nine months 

 old? In the first place, you must have a good breed. It mat- 

 ters but little by what name it is called; but the hog must be 

 one with a predisposition to early maturity, with a good consti- 

 tution and digestive organs. Fortunately, we have several 

 breeds that combine enough of these points to make them ex- 



