BRKEDINO. 



AND TIIEIK VARIOUS HIM-KDS. 



[uUi^KDIMO. 



cottage?, therefore, some mode less aspiring 



should bo adopted. 



In this case, a well-built stand, and water- 

 proof shed for a sleeping-plaee, with an inclo- 

 sure for air and cxeroise, as largo as conve- 

 nieut, will bo sulllcient. It should not open 

 to northerly or easterly winds; nor should it 

 be exposed to the full heat of the mid-day sun. 

 Its dimeusioua should bo about eight feet 

 square, and the court about ten. Tho second, 

 or supplemental sty, need not be more than 

 six feet square ; and it does not necessarily 



require a court. Of courso, if the three mud 

 walls can be built, and a little gate appended 

 for tho ingress and egress of tho tenant, it 

 will be 80 much tho better; but here cottier 

 management only is spoken of. In construct- 

 ing cottier pig-cotes, it is Iiardly nece.ssarv to 

 say that tho roof should always slope from the 

 court and behind tho sty, or be spouted in 

 such a nianner as to allow the water to be 

 carried off by a system of drains cntirelv sepa- 

 rate from those conveying tho liquid from the 

 sties. 



CHAPTER IV. 



EEEEDIXG REARING, FATTENING, AND FEEDING THE HOG. 



It is now a fact admitted in the principles of 

 breeding, that the progeny usually inherit the 

 physical and constitutional qualities of one or 

 both of the progenitors ; and in the case of the 

 hog, it is the qualities of the boar which prin- 

 cipally predominate in the offspring. Hence 

 the male animal, in swine, should always be 

 selected with the utmost care. "In the 

 breeding of swine," says Thaer, "as much as 

 in that of any other live stock, it is important 

 to pay great attention, not only to the breed, 

 but also to the choice of individuals. The sow 

 should produce a great number of young ones, 

 and she must be well fed to support them. 

 Some sows bring forth ten, twelve, or even 

 fifteen pigs at a birth ; but eight or nine is the 

 usual number ; and sows whicli produce fewer 

 than this must be rejected. It is, however, 

 probable that fecundity depends also on the 

 boar. He should, therefore, be chosen from a 

 ram that multiplies quickly. As good one- 

 year bacon-hogs are much in request, we must 

 do all wo can to obtain a breed well adapted 

 for producing them. Swine of such a breed 

 may be known by their long bodies, low bellies, 

 and short legs. Long pendulous ears are 

 usually coupled with these qualities, and at- 

 tract purchasers. If, however, as is often 

 advisable in large dairies and cheese factories, 



hogs are to be sold at all seasons to the 

 butchers, great attention must be paid to 

 quickness of growth and facility of gaining 

 ilesh, so that the animals may attain their full 

 growth, and be ready for killing before they 

 are a year old. This quality is particularly 

 prominent in the Chinese and African breeds ; 

 but among our ordinary varieties, hogs are 

 oi'tea met with wliicli are better adapted for 

 this purpose, than for producing large quan- 

 tities of bacon and lard. The boar should be 

 selected from a breed well suited to these 

 several purposes. He must be sound, and 

 free from hereditary blemishes. He should 

 be kept separate from the sows till he is about 

 a year old, and has finished his growth, or he 

 will begin to leap too early. He is usually 

 castrated before completing his third year, 

 otherwise bis flesh becomes uneatable. If, 

 however, he is of a peculiarly excellent breed, 

 one which cannot be easily replaced, his flesh 

 may be sacrificed for the sake of preserving him 

 for breeding from, a few years longer. A boar 

 left to pasture at liberty with the sows, might 

 suffice for thirty or forty of them ; but as ho is 

 generally shut up, and allowed to leap at stated 

 times only, so that the young ones may be 

 born nearly at the same time, it is usual to 

 keep one boar for ten or twelve sows. Full- 



