SWINE. 



SWINE. 



score, 5 feet / inches. (Halyard's Pract. Farm. 

 p. 51.) 



"In Hampshire, and some adjoining coun- 

 ties, after the hog is killed, they first swale him, 

 or singe off the hairs, by kindling a fire round 

 him, which is far preferable to scraping off the 

 bristles with warm water, as the latter mode 

 softens the rind, and injures the firmness of 

 the flesh. He is then cut into flitches, which 

 are well rubbed with common salt and salt- 

 petre mixed, and are laid in a trough, where 

 they continue for three weeks or a month, ac- 

 cording to size, and are often turned. They are 

 then taken out, suspended in a chimney, over 

 a wood or turf-fire, or in regular curing-houses, 

 till they are quite dried. In Kent they are dried 

 before a slack fire, which requires a similar 

 method and time to that employed in salting. 

 They are hung up or deposited on racks fur 

 use. Somersetshire or Wiltshire bacon, which 

 is the best in- England, is cured as follows: 

 The sidesof the hogs are laid in large wooden 

 troughs, sprinkled with bay salt, and left un- 

 moved for 24 hours, to drain off the blood and 

 juices. Then they are taken out, and wiped 

 quite dry, and some bay salt, previously heated 

 in an iron fryingpan, is rubbed into the flesh, 

 till enough of it is absorbed. This is continued 

 for four successive days, during which the 

 flitches are turned every second day. With 

 large hnss, the flitches must be kept in brine 

 for 3 weeks, and must be turned every other 

 day, alter which they are dried as usual. In 

 these methods the hide or skin is left on ; but 

 in some counties there is a different practice, 

 which has been recommended abroad as pre- 

 ferable, because it affords an opportunity of 

 converting the skin into leather, while the meat 

 takes the salt and is cured as well as in the for- 

 mer mode. The hides of swine have long been 

 made into shoes in China. Where the con- 

 sumption of bacon is very rapid, the last-men- 

 tioned practice may be adopted; but it is cer- 

 tain that bacon will in a short time become 

 rusty, and consequent loss be incurred, if it be 

 not cured with the rind, and kept in a dry 

 room." (The Complete Grazier.} See BACON. 



Pork. In England, mess or table pork, or 

 that for the London market, is generally cured 

 near the principal sea-ports, and along the 

 coast, from whence it can easily be shipped to 

 the metropolis. If the object of breeding hogs 

 is for pork and hams only, it is evident that 

 pork from a hog of 25 to 35 stone (8 pounds to 

 the stone) is by far more profitable than those 

 from 35 to 50 stone; in which case a cross 

 between the Chinese and Essex will be found 

 to answer very well, as the progeny come to 

 early maturity. (Baxter's Agr. Lib.} 



The middle-sized hogs, such as the Northum- 

 berland, the Berkshire, the Suffolk, and Oxford 

 breeds, are those generally preferred for this 

 purpose, and their ordinary weight will be 

 from 8 to 10 or 12 imperial stone. 



For delicate pork for tamily use, the smaller 

 kindly-frying pigs are chosen. The Berk- 

 snire and the Suffolk breeds, when not too 

 larsre., will be the best for this purpose. The 

 Chinese will answer well at 6 or 8 months old, 

 when it will weigh 4 to 8 imperial stones. By 

 higher Ceding it may be made, when a little 



older, to attain to double this weight ; but th 

 meat will then be found coarse. Weanlings 

 are generally fatted in a very short period. A 

 pig of 5 or 6 months old will fatten, if in good 

 condition, in 8 or 10 weeks. 



The fat of the hog is neither mixed with the 

 flesh nor collected at its extremeties, but covers 

 the animal all over, and forms a thick, distinct, 

 and continued layer beneath the integuments, 

 and in this respect may be said to resemble the 

 whale and other cetaceous animals. It is 

 termed lard, and differs in chemical composi- 

 tion and properties from the fat of the rumi- 

 nating animals. It more readily imbibes salt 

 than any other kind of fat ; and the same pro- 

 perty being possessed by the flesh, there is no 

 animal food better suited than pork for preser- 

 vation by salting. See LARD. 



Statistics. The number of swine sold in 

 Smithfield market in 1830 was 254,672, which, 

 at the average weight of 96 Ibs. each (a very 

 moderate computation), gives the number 

 of pounds of pork consumed annually at 

 24,448,512. (Youatt on Cattle.) The swine 

 sold in Glasgow market in 1822 were 6539. 

 The exports of swine from Ireland in 1825, 

 were 65,919; in 1835, 376,191. Estimated 

 value in the latter year, 893,839?. Increase 

 between these two periods, 310,272. 



In the United States of America a very large 

 number of hogs are reared ; and latterly much 

 attention has been paid to the improvement of 

 the breed by judicious crosses. The piggeries 

 are on an extensive scale; and it is no uncom- 

 mon thing in some of the Western States for a 

 drover to have from 3000 to 4000 pigs. In a 

 letter written from Michigan city, dated llth 

 September, 1841, the writer, a farmer, states 

 that he had then 3500 pigs up to fatten ! The 

 bountiful crops of Indian corn raised on the 

 fertile Western lands afford greater advantages 

 than any other part of the world for the rearing 

 of this kind of stock. Corn-fed bacon is pro- 

 verbially excellent. 



Diseases. The diseases of swine are gener- 

 ally the result of want of care and cleanliness, 

 or arise from improper food and irregular 

 feeding, and from being kept in loathsome 

 and uncomfortable situations. 



Hog Cholera. This apparently modern dis- 

 ease causes great devastation in the extensive 

 piggeries of the Western States, sometimes 

 putting an end to the pork-raising business in 

 extensive districts. One of the most reliable 

 accounts of the malady has been furnished by 

 Dr. George Suit on, of Aurora, Indiana, and 

 was published, in 18-")8, in the " Medico-Chi- 

 rurgical Review.'' His description of the dis- 

 ease is as follows : 



The hog at first appears weak, his head 

 droops, and sometimes, in a few hours after 

 these symptoms, diarrhoea commences, and 

 frequently vomiting. In some cases the dis- 

 charges are watery and clay-coloured, some- 

 times dark, bloody and mucous, like those of 

 dysentery. The urine at first is generally 

 small in quantity and high-coloured, but as the 

 animal recovers, it becomes abundant and 

 clear, a very favourable symptom. In a large 

 number of cases the lungs are affected, indi- 

 cated by coughing, wheezing, and difficult 



1031 



