HARRIS ON THE PIG. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



COOKING FOOD FOR PIGS. 



Nearly all farmers cook more or less food for their pigs. 

 Comparatively few do it systematically and regularly 

 throughout the year. Potatoes, pumpkins, and food of 

 this class, is almost invariably cooked in this country, the 

 general plan being to boil or steam the potatoes or pump- 

 kins, and after they are cooked, mash them up with meal, 

 either in the vessel in which they are cooked, or in the 

 feed tub. If the meal is mixed with the cooked food 

 while it is boiling hot, and the mass is then covered care- 

 fully for a few hours, to retain the heat, the meal becomes 

 soft, and is, in fact, more or less cooked, according to the 

 skill and judgment with which the operation is performed. 



In England, Swede turnips are often cooked in this 

 way, and mixed with barley or Indian corn-meal. But 

 they are considered far inferior to potatoes as food for 

 pigs. Of late years, the turnips, potatoes, etc., are ground, 

 or crushed, and the pulp, as it comes from the machine, is 

 mixed with meal. This mixture of meal and pulped roots 

 is sometimes steamed, but it is more generally fed without 

 cooking, being simply allowed to remain in a heap until 

 it becomes warm from fermentation. In this way the 

 particles of meal are softened and broken up, and are 

 supposed to be more readily digested by the animals. As 

 to whether it is more economical to feed raw potatoes 

 with raw meal or grain, or to cook them, there seems to 

 be no question. We have never known any one who has 

 tried steaming or boiling, with even ordinary conveniences, 

 that was not perfectly satisfied that it was more profita- 

 ble than to feed raw. We may assume that this fact is 

 established by common experience. But, on the other 

 hand, as between cooking and pulping, the question may 



