121 



XL Swine. — The county is scarcely at all engaged in the "■ 

 breeding of swine ; and beyond the amount consumed in the 

 county, a small quantity of pork is fatted for exportation. 

 I know no large establishment for breeding or fattening swine ; 

 and one reason of this is, the small number of dairies which 

 exist in the county. The dairy in all cases may be regarded 

 as the most efficient means of raising and of fattening swine. 

 The opinion of one of the best farmers in the county is, that a 

 pound of pork may be made at much less expense than a pound 

 of beef. It is not uncommon for pork to bring more in the 

 market than beef. The principal part of the swine kept and 

 fatted in the market are brought in droves from the State of 

 New York, and sold, at four to six months old, to the farmers. 

 They are usually confined in styes until they are fatted and 

 slaughtered. I scarcely know an instance in the county of 

 hogs running in the pastures ; and the regulations of the towns 

 forbid their going at large in the highway. The rude manners 

 and unfortunate moral developments of this race of animals 

 seem to shut them out from the kindly sympathies of the hu- 

 man family and foreclose any benevolent indulgence, beyond 

 what is dictated by mere interest. It is a problem yet to be 

 determined what effect a course of kind and gentle treatment 

 for half a century might have upon the race, in subduing the 

 natural and repellent rudeness and stubbornness of their char- 

 acter. 



What I have to say on the subject of fattening swine is ne- 

 cessarily reserved for another part of my Report. I shall here 

 only refer to a few facts, which have occurred to my observa- 

 tion. 



One of the farmers whom I visited had then in his styes three 

 swine, whose average weight would equal four hundred pounds 

 each. They were fed three times a day, with a mess of 12 

 quarts of meal to each per day, composed of the meal of oats 

 and Indian corn, mixed in equal parts and stirred in cold water. 

 The price of oats at that time was 42 cents per bushel, — of 

 corn, 84 cents per bushel ; — 6 qts. of oatmeal would be cts, 8.4 j 

 16 



