ENGLISH EXPERIENCE IN PIG FEEDING. 131 



CHAPTER XIX. 



ENGLISH EXPERIENCE IN PIG FEEDING. 



In some respects, the farmers of England and the fann- 

 ers of the Middle and Eastern States are similarly situa- 

 ted. England does not raise scarcely half as much wheat 

 as is needed by her population, and the same is true of 

 our Middle States; while in New England, enough wheat 

 is not raised to support one-tenth of the population. 

 English farmers are thrown into direct competition with 

 the produce of all other countries, and the farmers of 

 New England and the Middle States have to compete 

 with the produce of the Western States. Prices depend 

 less on the home crop than on the yield in those countries 

 from which the principal supply is derived. A poor crop 

 at home is not necessarily compensated by higher prices. 

 And, therefore, it is particularly important to guard as 

 much as possible against poor crops from unpropitious 

 seasons. High farming is found to be the best safeguard. 

 But high farming not only requires thoroughly drained 

 and well tilled land, but abundance of manure. English 

 farmers must compete with the cheap land of our West- 

 ern States, and also with the cheap labor of Ireland and 

 the continent. But, in spite of all this, they continue 

 more prosperous, as a whole, than the farmers of any 

 other country. 



We cannot adopt the English system of agriculture, 

 but the principles on which it rests are as applicable here 

 as there. What the farmers of New England and the 

 Middle States require, is more capital, more labor, and 

 more manure. And, in many places, manure can be ob- 

 tained cheaper and better from feeding well-bred pigs 

 than in any other way. This, at any rate, has been the 

 experience of many English farmers, and the prospects 



