310 



Some of the best hogs which I have ever seen have been 

 fatted at the slaughtering establishment of Jesse Bird, in Wa- 

 tertown. He keeps his swine about six months. He pur- 

 chases the grass breed above mentioned, preferring hogs with 

 a small head, round and full body though not deep belly, and 

 with full shoulders and broad backs. They are taken in, weigh- 

 ing from 170 to 200 lbs., kept in the slaughter-yard for a time, 

 and, previous to killing, are fed upon potatoes and Indian meal 

 cooked, and are brought to weigh from 450 to 600 lbs. 



At the slaughtering establishments in the vicinity of the cap- 

 ital, large amounts of pork are supported and fatted upon the 

 offal. Sometimes this is cooked for the swine ; in other cases, 

 it is given in its raw state, so that without any troublesome 

 change in the way of preparation, the hogs eat the cattle and 

 then men eat the hogs. It is easy, but not agreeable to imag- 

 ine in such cases what the pork may be. The richness of ani- 

 mal food becomes thus a little too much concentrated even for 

 the epicurean palate ; and few persons knowingly would have 

 the courage to touch such food when coming directly from the 

 slaughter-yard, excepting some, who are cannibals by nature, 

 and by some accident have been misplaced in a civilized coun- 

 try. It answers very well for shipping pork, for no questions 

 of taste are ever held over a barrel of provision either on a slave 

 plantation or at sea. It is ascertained, however, that in fatting 

 swine, some portion of animal food and pot liquor is highly 

 conducive to thrift. In the best establishments, the hogs some 

 time before being slaughtered, are put upon vegetable food, po- 

 tatoes, Indian meal, &c., so that the rankness of the pork is ta- 

 ken away. 



E. Phinney's swine establishment at Lexington, is among 

 the most extensive in the county. His number of fattening 

 swine averages about 100, with fifty store hogs, and they are 

 killed in February and March, when from 10 to 18 months 

 old, being of the fall and winter litters of the previous year. 

 His pens are well arranged ; seldom occupied by more than 

 three or four in a pen. They have a manure-yard attached to 



