63 



ON FATTENING CATTLE AND SWiNE. 



bles may be used in the summer and fall to some extent. Swine 

 should be kept well, and the sooner they are fattened the better. A 

 pig that will weigh 300 pounds when ten months old, is more profita- 

 ble, than if kept until it is fifteen months old, to weigh the same. 

 That swine may thrive well, they should be fed regularly. I mean 

 about the sam.e time every day. When the time arrives that they 

 are usually fed, they will be squealing at the trough ; or if they are 

 of more quiet disposition, they will be looking with intense anxiety 

 for their usual repast. Remaining in this situation, they will not 

 thrive so well as when they are regularly fed, and return quietly ta 

 their nest. They should also have a warm place to eat and sleep. 

 Although they like to wallow in the mire, still they like a warm bed. 

 The question is often asked, is it profitable to raise pork ? or how 

 the price of pork should compare with corn, that the pork may pay 

 for the feed, and the manure for the trouble ? 



In about one year, I raised about 5000 pounds of pork, and kept 

 an account of what the swine eat. They were kept mostly on corn 

 meal, with some apples and potatoes in the fall. The food was 

 mostly cooked. Reckoning the corn at 75 cents per bushel, the po- 

 tatoes, apples, and what they received from the dairy, at what I 

 supposed they were worth when compared with corn, the pork cost 

 about seven and a half cents per pound, ofisetting the manure against 

 the labor. The swine were of a good kind, and did well. 



In regard to cooking meal for swin^, there are diflferent opinions. 

 I tried an experiment in 1841, which was pubHshed in the Transac- 

 tions of the Society for that year. The result was iu favor of un- 

 cooked meal. But as many farmers have a different opinion, I wish 

 further experiments might be made upon the subject. 



Since making the above statements, a communication has been 

 received from Francis Dodge, of Danvers, the object of which is to 

 show the expense of raising pork. The Committee consider it not to 

 come within the rules of the Society for premium, but recommend 

 that five dollars, as a gratuity, be paid Mr. Dodge for the informa- 

 tion he has submitted. 



JOSEPH HOW, Chairman. 

 Salem, November 17, 1848. 



