THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



43 



February 22, 1841. 

 lbs. IbB. lbs. 



1 weighed 738 1 weighed 528 1 weighed 487 



2 " 655 2 •' 523 2 " 480 



3 " 579 3 " 517 3 ^' 476 



4 " 574 4 " 503 4 " 441 



5 «' 656 5 " 501 5 " 400 

 The grass-led hogs, which I have before men- 

 tioned, are regaining iheir popularity. They have 

 been, to a degree, crossed and intermixed wiih 

 various valuable breeds in the interior, and are 

 now preferred to all others in the Brighton marlu-t. 

 With good care and keeping, at fifteen and 

 eighteen months old they are easily carried lo 500 

 and 600 pounds. 



Of lour, laited by Stephen Morse, of Marlbo- 

 rough, the current season, the weight was as lol- 

 lows : 539 lbs., 530, 506, 459— averaging 508^ lbs. 

 each. These hogs were put into the sty in' Sep- 

 tember, 1840, vveighmg between 70 and 80 lbs. 

 each, and were killed in October, 1841. They 

 were kept mainly upon boiled potatoes the firs 

 winter, and since that, upon the slops of the dairy, 

 skim milk, butter milk, whey and Indian meal. 



Some ol the best hogs which I have ever seen 

 have been fatted at the slaughtering establishment 

 of Jesse Bird, in VVatertovvn. He keeps his swine 

 about six months. He purchases the grass breed 

 above mentioned, preferring hogs with a small 

 head, round and lull body, though not deep belly, 

 and with lull shoulders and broad backs. They 

 are taken in, weighing from 170 to 200 lbs., kepi 

 in the slaughter-yard lor a time, and previous lo 

 killing, are led upon potatoes and Indian meaJ 

 cooked, and are brought to weigh Irom 450 to 600 

 pounds. 



At the slaughtering establishments in the vi- 

 ciniiy of ihe capital, large amounts ol' pork are 

 supported and latied upon the ott'al. Sometimes 

 this is cooked (or the swine ; in other cases it is 

 given in its raw state, so that without any trouble- 

 some change in ihe way of preparation, the hogs 

 eat the cattle and then men eat the hogs. It is 

 easy, but not agreeable lo imagine in such cases 

 what ihe pork may be. The richness of animal 

 food becomes thus a little too much coneenirated 

 even lor the epicurean palate ; and lew 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 civi- 

 lized country. It answers very well lor shipping 

 pork, for no questions of taste are ever held over 

 a barrel ofprovision either on a slave plantation or 

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

 ewine, some portion of animal food and pot liquor 

 is highly conducive to thrift. In the best establish- 

 ments, the hogs, some time beliaie being slaugh- 

 tered, are put upon vegetable Ibod, potatees, Indian 

 meal, &c.j so that the rankness of the pork is taken 

 away. 



E. Phinney's swine establishment, at Lexing- 

 ton is among the most extensive in the county. 

 His number of fattening swine averages about 

 100, with 50 store hogs, and they are killed in Fe- 

 bruary and March, when from 10 to 18 months 

 old, being of the lall and winter liners of the pre- 

 vious year. His pens are well arranged ; seldom 

 occupied by more than three or four in a pen. 

 They have a manure yard attached to each pen, 

 into which bog-mud and liner are thrown lor their 

 manufacture and com4)ounding, and they have 



always a dry and comfortable bed. They are led 

 regularly three times a day. I shall subjoin an 

 account given by himself of his mode of raanage- 

 ment, w;jich the fiirmers will read with interest. 



* * * # # 



" An inquiry is often made as to the best time 

 of killing, or at wheat age it is most profitable to 

 slaughter them. On a large farm where much 

 gieen herbage is produced and where the value of 

 the manure is taken into the account, the pio-s 

 killed at the age of 15 and 16 months, give t^e 

 greatest profit. When ii is intended to kill them 

 at this age, they may be kept on more ordinary 

 and cheaper food lor the first 10 or 12 months, or 

 lill within 4 or 5 months of the time of killing. 

 The manure they make and the extra weight of 

 pork more than pay the expense incurred in keep- 

 ing them the longer time ; but the spring pigs 

 which are to be killed the ensuing winter and 

 spring, must be kept upon the best of Ibod from 

 the time they are taken from the sow until they 

 are slaughtered. 



" The older class of pigs for the first 10 or 12 

 months are kept principally upon brewers' grains, 

 with a small quantity ol Indian or barley meal, or 

 rice, ruia-baga, sugar-beet, &c., and in the sea- 

 soji of clover, peas, oats, cornstalks, weeds, &c., 

 they are cut green and thrown into the pens ; the 

 next 4 or 5 months before killing they have aa 

 much Indian meal, barley meal or rice, with an 

 equal quantity of potatoes, apples or pumpkins, 

 as they will eat, the whole being well cooked and 

 salted, and given to them about blood warm. 

 During the season of fattening, an ear or two of 

 hard corn is every day given to each pig. This 

 small quantity they will digest well, and of course 

 there is no waste. Shelled corn, soaked in water 

 made as salt as the water of the ocean for 48 

 hours, wiih a quart of wood ashes added to eaeh 

 bushel and given to them occasionally in small 

 quantities, greatly promotes their health and 

 growth. Their health and appetite is also greatly 

 promoted by throwing a handful of charcoal once 

 or twice a week into each of their pens. Their 

 principal food should, however, be cooked tho- 

 roughly and nicely. From long practice and 

 repeated experiments, 1 am convinced that two 

 dollars' worth of material well cooked, will make 

 as much pork as three dollars' worth of t,he same 

 material given in a raw state. 



" Pigs when first taken from the sow should be 

 treated with great care, to prevent them from 

 scouring and becoming stinted ; when either of 

 these happen, it will require many days and 

 sometimes weeks lo put ihem again into a healthy 

 growing condition. When first deprived of 

 the maternal food, a little new or skim milk, boiled 

 and slightly salted and given to them often and in 

 small quantities, will prevent scouring and greatly 

 promote Iheir growth. If intended for killing at 

 the age of 9 or 10 months, they should be full fed 

 all the time and kept as fat as possible. - If, on 

 the other hand, they are intended for killing at the 

 age of 15 or 18 months, they should not be full- 

 fed, nor be made very fat for the first 10 or 12 

 months. 



" To satisfy myself of the benefit of this course, 

 I took 6 ol my best pigs 8 weeks old, all of the 

 same litter, and shut them in (wo pens three 

 in each. Three of these I led very high and kept 

 them as fat ail the time as they could be made. 

 The other three were fed sparingl^i, upon ooar"' 



