14 FARMING IT 



was a sure enough farmer. Indeed, most of my 

 callers that day seemed so unusually cheerful 

 that I began to be a bit suspicious. 



The physical condition of my pets occasioned 

 me some uneasiness, and the recommendations of 

 my friends as to medical treatment were to the 

 last degree discouraging. One recommended 

 charcoal and bone-meal. Another, the amputa- 

 tion of the tail. Another, to slit the forehead and 

 rub in sulphur. Still another, to look for black 

 teeth and pull them. 



That night the smallest pig died, and was 

 buried with suitable ceremonies and after titanic 

 exertions with a pickaxe. That afternoon I had 

 stolen an hour from office-work and fared to the 

 library, where I consulted various works on Do- 

 mestic Swine. After an exhaustive search I found 

 the following : - 



"Occasionally there will appear in a litter 

 of pigs a stunted, dwarfed, or misshapen one, 

 known as a runt. Whether this is a harking back 

 to the original type or a direct inheritance from 

 some defective but more recent ancestor matters 

 little. The runt is of no value whatever, and 

 should be killed at birth. Indeed, by allowing 

 him to remain with the others one may menace 

 the well-being of the healthy pigs, inasmuch as 

 the runt is much more liable to contract disease 

 than its healthy congeners. We have yet to hear 



