FATTEiriNO. 



AND TlIElJi VAKIOL'S BliEEDS. 



[l ATTKMNO. 



comfort. These twenty pwino wero divided into 

 three lots, and closely confined ; we proceeded 

 to fattt.!! them, by stoaininn; four bu.shela of 

 small |)otntoo3, twelve bushels of apple pomace, 

 four bushels of pumpkins, and one hundred- 

 weight of buck-wheat cornel, addin<; u little 

 salt; the whole being well incorporated to- 

 gether, while hot from the steamer, with a 

 wooden pounder, and suttered to undergo fer- 

 mentation before it was used as food. They 

 were, at the same time, supplied with plenty 

 of charcoal and pure water. AVhile feeding 

 them with the first steamer, or the compound, 

 a more than ordinary moisture was observed 

 on their litter, which was occasioned by urine: 

 a knowledge of animal nature convinced the 

 owner, that any more than an ordinary flow 

 would weaken the system, and retard the 

 progress of fattening ; and he attributed this 

 evil to the steamed pumpkins acting as a 

 diuretic, stimulating the kidneys, and increas- 

 ing the evacuation of urine. In the next 

 steamer, therefore, four busliels of ruta-baga 

 were substituted for the pumpkins, and this 

 had the desired eflfect. The experiment af- 

 forded proof that a mixture thus compounded, 

 contains a larger mass of nutritive material 

 ready prepared for the action of the stomach, 

 and therefore producing flesh more rapidly, 

 than any other combination of food made 

 use of. 



Professor Johnston furnishes a table of the 

 comparative nutritive elements of different 

 kinds of food ; and from which we take the 

 following materials used in the feeding of the 

 pig:— 



Flesh -and-bonc- 

 Hoat-produfing : producing : Fat-producing : 

 Starch, sugar. Gluten, albumen, 



gum, &c. legumt-n, &c. Fatty matter. 



Wheat . . 55 . . 15 . .3 per cent. 



Barky . . CO . . 14 . . 2 „ 



Oats . . CO . . IC . . C 



Rye ... CO . . 13 . . 3 



Indian corn . 70 . , 12 . . 7 ,, 



B-ice ... 75 . 7 . . 07 „ 



Beans ... 40 . . 20 . . 3 ,, 



Peas ... 50 . , 24 . . 21 ,, 



Potetoes . . IS . , 2 . , 0-3 ,, 



Turnips . . 9 . . 1-5 . . 03 ,, 



Carrots . . 10 . . lo . . 04 „ 



Mangel-wurzel 11 . . 2 . . ,, 



A food, formed of the combination of roots 

 — say potatoes and grain, as oats — is general) v 

 chosen by the best pig-feeders for fattening 



larpfe pigs. The Ilov. Arthur loung, in bis 

 work on fattening cattle and Bwine, gives 

 the following directions in refert'uco to the 

 beat method of using grain aa a meal for this 

 purpose: — "The most prolitablo method of 

 converting corn, of any kind, into food f^r hogs, 

 is to grind it into meal, and mix this with 

 water in cisterns, in the proportion of five 

 busiiela of meal to one huiuired gallons of 

 water; stir it well several times a-day, for 

 three weeks, in cold weather, or for a fortnight 

 in a warmer season — by which it will have 

 fermented well, and become acid ; till which 

 time it is not ready to give. It should be 

 stirred immediately before feeding. Two or 

 three cisterns should be kept fermenting in 

 succession, that no necessity may occur for 

 giving it not duly prepared. The diirereuco 

 in profit between feeding in this manner, and 

 giving the grain whole, is very great — so great, 

 that whoever tries it once, will not be apt to 

 [ changeit for the common method." In another 

 portion of his work, tlie same author observes 

 — " Some persons appear to be exceedingly suc- 

 cessful in fattening their pigs on bread made 

 of coarse rye or barley-meal. They cut this 

 bread in pieces ; dry it in an oven ; then soak it 

 in water, mash it, and give it to the animals 

 in the form of porridge. Where sour milk or 

 whey can be substituted for water, this food is 

 said to surpass all others for quickness and 

 efficacy in fattening, and for the goodness of 

 the flesh and the fat it produces." 



AVheat-meal is not so well relished as oat- 

 meal, because, from its glutinous character, it 

 sticks to the teeth of the animals, and thus 

 annoys them ; and all annoyances do harm to 

 fattening animals. For store pigs, nothing 

 more is necessary than the pickings of the 

 fold-yard (especially where cattle are fed on 

 linseed cake ; for they will carefully collect all 

 the dung in this case, and feed upon it), with 

 a few chopped turnips and a little sour wash 

 in winter. In summer tliey may be given a 

 run in the grass fields, with a little wash, in 

 which almost any refuse may be thrown. As 

 the pastures fail, and before the stubbles are 

 ready, a handful of old dry beans in the 

 morning, per animal, will exercise a very 

 wonderful influence for the better; the biijding 

 character of the beans will counteract the too- 

 relaxiniT wash and grass ; and, when the harvest 



77!) 



