INTRODUCTORY. 11 



pound of pork is not so great as the above considerations 

 would lead us to suppose. The hog is a great eater. He 

 can eat, and digest, and assimilate, more nutriment in a 

 given time, in proportion to his size, than any other of our 

 domestic animals. 



The extensive and elaborate experiments of Messrs. 

 Lawes and Gilbert show that, notwithstanding pigs are 

 fed much richer food than oxen and sheep, they neverthe- 

 less eat about twice as much food, in proportion to live 

 weight, as a sheep. On the other hand, it was found that 

 401 Ibs. of Indian corn meal and bran (dry) produced 

 100 Ibs. of pork (live weight), while it required 1,548 Ibs. 

 of oil -cake and clover hay (dry) to produce 100 Ibs. of 

 mutton (live weight.) 



Why a pig should gain so much more from a given 

 quantity of food, than a well-bred sheep or steer, has not 

 hitherto been explained. It has been attributed to the 

 fact that the pig possesses larger and more powerful as- 

 similating organs. 



Thus, Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert say : " An examination 

 of these tables [of results of experiments] will show 

 that the stomachs and contents constituted 



In the oxen about \\.}4 P er cen * of the entire weight of the body. 

 " " sheep " 7> " " ' " " " " 



" " Dl? " I 1 / " " " " " " " 



" The intestines and their contents, on the other hand, 

 stand in an opposite relation. Thus, of the entire body, 

 these amounted 



In the pig to about 6%" per cent. 

 " " sheep " " m " " 

 ." " oxen " " 2% " " 



" These facts," they remark, " are of considerable inter- 

 est, when it is borne in mind, that in the food *of the 

 ruminant there is so large a proportion of indigestible 

 woody fibre, and in that of a well-fed pig a comparatively 

 large proportion of starch the primary transformations 



