233 HARRIS ON THE PIG. 



CHAPTER XXVL 



APPENDIX. 



J. Mackelcan, Esq., one of the editors of the Canada 

 Farmer, and an intelligent and careful observer, favors us 

 with the following notes in regard to his management of 

 pigs. 



" My plan of keeping store bogs over winter was to give them a good 

 warm sty, with abundance of room and well littered with straw. They 

 were fed on a mess made of boiled Swede turnips, mixed with pea chaff 

 and finely cut clover hay; the turnips, after being boiled soft, were 

 placed in a barrel, and the chaff and cut hay mashed into them. In ad- 

 dition, they got all the refuse of the kitchen ; what milk that could be 

 spared from the dairy being given to the late dropped fall pigs, which 

 had a separate sty to themselves. As soon as the clover was well up in 

 spring, they had the run of a clover field, on which they seemed to 

 thrive, so that, when put up to fatten, at 12 to 16 months old they were 

 about 300 Ibs. weight each. Being in good condition, the process of 

 fatting did not take more than three or four weeks ; they were al- 

 lowed all they could eat of peas that had been soaked in water until they 

 were soft and had begun to ferment. Generally speaking, hogs are fat- 

 ted here by simply giving them hard, whole peas as much as they can 

 eat for about a month, sometimes in the field where they grew, the hogs 

 being put up in a corner and fed from the stack ; but it is a wasteful 

 process. The best farmers prefer to either grind the peas and then mix 

 with a little water, enough to make into dough, or, if there is no mill 

 near enough to grind them, to soak the whole peas in water until soft, 

 and then feed to the hogs. The Berkshires (the breed I kept) seem to 

 have an aptitude for eating and thriving on clover; my plan with the 

 young spring pigs was to take them from the sow at eight weeks old, shut 

 them up for a few days, and feed on sour milk or buttermilk in which a 

 little shorts or meal had been stirred. As soon as the clover was pretty 

 well grown, say about the beginning of May, put them in a small pad- 

 dock by themselves. The paddock must be well seeded with a succulent 

 growth of young clover, and can be made of rails or boards in a corner 

 of a clover field, but must be close enough near the bottom to keep the 

 pigs from getting out. To prevent rooting, they had better be ringed. 

 The young pigs will live and thrive on the clover all summer as long as 

 there is plenty of it. In addition, they should have all the spare milk or 

 whey from the dairy, with some meal occasionally, or, if there is no 



