178 HARRIS ON THE PIG. 



may be fed until the peas are fully ripe. In fact, many 

 farmers feed all their peas to the pigs without thrashing. 

 But this is a wasteful plan. When the peas are ripe, 

 pigs will do much better on them cooked, or at least 

 soaked in water for twenty-four hours before feeding. 

 And in addition to this advantage, pea straw, when well 

 cured and carefully harvested, is nearly as good for sheep 

 as clover hay, and certainly will much more than pay the 

 expense of thrashing. A large farmer in Michigan, who 

 has made himself and his farm rich, attributes his success 

 principally to growing a large quantity of peas every 

 year, and feeding them to pigs. He thrashes the peas, 

 and cooks them, but does not grind them, as he thinks 

 cooking is better and cheaper than grinding. The manure 

 from his pea-fed pigs has made his farm one of the most 

 productive in the State. 



FATTENING PIGS NEAR LARGE CITIES. 



Nurserymen, seed growers, and market gardeners near 

 our large cities require great quantities of manure. Hith- 

 erto they have obtained it from the horse and cow stables 

 in the city, but the demand is greater than the supply, 

 and the price is so high that many are looking to other 

 sources for manure. In Rochester, the price of manure 

 from the stables is $1.25 per load, and by the time it is 

 well rotted, it requires three loads of fresh manure, as 

 drawn, to make one load of rotted manure, as applied to 

 the land. 1 his, added to the expense of drawing, brings 

 the cost of the manure up to about $100 per acre. In 

 Geneva, N. Y., where the nursery business is carried on 

 very extensively, the price of manure is even higher still, 

 or $1.50 per load at the stables. And there, as well as at 

 Rochester, some of the nurserymen are turning their at- 

 tention to fattening sheep in winter for the purpose of 

 obtaining cheaper and better manure. The result, so far, 



