138 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



breed, under the usual mode of treatment which 

 the county is compelled to adopt, nolintf carclully 

 all the lacls involved in the ex[)erinicnt. When 

 this proposition was first made, it was ohjected, 

 that the demand for blooded pigs, for breeders, was 

 loo great to allow a sufficient number of them to 

 be devoted to the experiment. The "pitr busi- 

 ness" is indeed too profitable to be abandoned for 

 ihe sake of makintr experiments and we have 

 strong doubts whether any of the prominent 

 breeders of the various vaunted breeds can ever 

 be induced to go iuto such an experiment as is 

 proposed. But the object can be efl'ected in spite 

 of them and without their co-operation. JNlany 

 farmers have purchased blooded pigs, not (or the 

 purpose of going into the "pig business," but of 

 improving their stock; and they will rear their pro- 

 geny ; not under the siufilng and gorging system, 

 but in the usual way, and the results of such treat- 

 ment will indicate the best breeds. It cannot be 

 long till we shall have reports of practical experi- 

 ments, showing the entire treatment, the ages, the 

 amount of food consumed, the weights attained, 

 travelling qualities, &c. &c. This is the kind of 

 information we have sought to elicit, because we 

 believe it the only satisfactory kind. 



We have some facts, relating to various breeds, 

 which we take the liberty of gleaning from our 

 private correspondence, believing that the writers 

 can have no objection to their publication. The 

 facts are interesting in themselves and may lead to 

 th^ develo| ement of others more explicit and satis- 

 factory. 



We begin with the statement of an experiment 

 by rvir. B^ P. Gray of Woodlbrd, made in the 

 usual practice of rearing hogs. It will be recol- 

 lected that we published an experiment (Vol. 3, 

 p. 142,) of this gentleman upon half blond Thin 

 rinds, highly favorable to that breed. The pre- 

 sent experiment relates to some pigs by an Irish 

 boar out of hall blood Thin rind sows, and a com- 

 parison between ihem and some pigs of scrub 

 breed. The result will astound two classes of 

 men, — those who deny the great superiority of 

 blood and those who all'ect to ridicule the Irish 

 and Thin rind hogs, for neither of them are now 

 considered the "fashionable" breed. We have 

 the notes belbre us furnished by Mr. Gray and 

 no one who knows him will doubt the correctness 

 of his statements. And it is proper to say that he 

 is not a " pig dealer;" his hogs were reared and 

 killed for the use of his own family ; and no one 

 must regard this notice either as a "puff or an 

 cdv^ertisement in disguise." 



He killed 46 hogs last fall. Of these, 22 were 

 scrubs, pigged in October, 1839; the residue were 

 out of hall blood Thin rind sows by an Irish boar, 

 22 of them pigged in January 1S40. and the other 

 two pigged in October 1839 about the time of the 

 scrubs. The scrub pigs were well wintered in 

 the usual way; and as soon as the blooded pigs 

 were weaned, the whole 46 were turned together 

 and well treated. The clover was good but the 

 rye was very indifferent [nobody grew good rye 

 last summer.] The whole were put up together 

 in a pen on the 15th Sept. 1840, to be fattened on 

 corn. Now mark the result. 



The 22 blooded pigs, pigged in January 1840, 

 plaufhlered November 19, ten months old, weigh- 

 ed neat, 5120 pounds, being an average of 232 

 pounds each, neat. 



The 22 scrubsj pigged in October 1839, slaugh- 



tered December 17, near a month later, when four- 

 teen months old, weighed neat, .3930 pounds, be- 

 ing an average of 178 pounds each, neat. 



So the scrubs, lour months older, and fed on 

 corn near a month longer, averaged each 54 

 pounds less than the average of the blooded pigs. 



The two blooded pigs, pigged about the same 

 time of the scrubs, and killed a month sooner, 

 weighed respectively 306 and 298 pounds, neat. 



The heaviest blooded pig weighed, neat, 296 

 pounds, the lightest, 193 ; t he heaviest scrub, 206, 

 lightest, 104. 



These facts need no comment; they speak for 

 themselves and every farmer can make his calcu- 

 lations as to the relative value of blooded and 

 common pigs. The scrub pigs were considered 

 of good slock ; and we presume the weights they 

 attained will prove them equal to the average of 

 common hogs. 



Mr. Joseph Reed, of Montgomery county, had 

 6 pigs, pigged afiout the fiist of April, by Dr. 

 Combs' Berkshire boar, out of a common sow, 

 which averaged 175 lbs. neat, killed about the 

 middle of November, when seven and a half 

 months old — ordinary treatment. 



We will now quote from a letter by Dr. Martin, 

 dated Dec. 7, 1840. He is a distinguished breeder 

 of cattle and various breeds of hogs, but is un- 

 derstood to be an advocate of the Woburn hog;: 



"Now for avoirdupois. I sold to Henry Savory, 

 five hogs of Woburn blood, that were two and 

 three years old — three year olds had been used 

 as boars. No. 1, weighed 640 lbs ; No. 2, 630 ; 

 No. 3, 660 ; No. 4, 748; No. 5, 824. 7^ oflf each 

 for weight of breeching — I have sent this to the 

 Kentucky Farmer. 



" I had some pigs, pigged 23d of last December ; 

 they were kept with their mother, after some cat- 

 tle, until April, when they were turned on grass, 

 and Ist July upon rye that was less than two 

 bushels to the acre, (what was cut and I cut the 

 best of it,) after which about a hundred were 

 turned upon a stubblefield and they had access to 

 an apple-orchard of one hundred trees, winter 

 fruit, very little down until a storm 3d October. 

 They stayed here until put up to fatten and were 

 killed 17tli November and weighed neat meat 261. 

 These were the refuse of the Woburns — I don't 

 know what the best would have done. I killed a 

 pig, a little older than Gov. Wicklifte's boar which 

 was pigged 14th February, with same kind of 

 ireatiTient as the last, that weighed 250 lbs. neat. 

 I killed a refuse pig, much Ihe least in the litter, 

 pigged 14th May, half white Berkshire and half 

 Woburn— killed Nov. 17, that weighed 110 neat 

 meat. The best of this litter, I think, (a mere ma'- 

 terofopiiiian,)wouldhave weighed 200 lbs. each." 



The statement in reti>rence to the big hogs, so 

 far as relates to the expense of their keep, the 

 quantity of food consumed, and the length of time 

 they were fully fed, is about as definite and satis- 

 factory as the phrase— "big as a piece of chalk." 

 And the Doctor had been more satisfactory, in 

 reference to the pigs, had he stated the length of 

 time they were corn fed. 



Our next quotation is from a letter by A. B. 

 Allen, Esq., of Buffalo, New York, a diaiinguish- 

 ed breeder and advocate of Berkshire hoffs, under 

 date, Columbus, Ohio, December 9, 1840 ; and 

 we are glad to find one so eminent, concurrmg in 

 our views as to the proper mode of ascertainmg 

 the real merits of the various breeds : 



