222 



health. It is quite familiar with the poorer 

 classes to use a strong extract of the ho(), lor 

 a cure of internal complaints, instesil of the 

 Peruvian bark, and with great success ; and the 

 tincture of humulus lupulus (the Latin name for 

 the hop) is universally to be found on the 

 shelves of the chemist and apothecary." 



Suspended Aniinalion. — Elizabeth Cave, an in- 

 teresting young woman, about 19 years of age, 



who lived in the service of Forrest, Esq. 



a gentleman residing at Woodford, in conse- 

 quence of getting her t'eet wet, caught a severe 

 cold, which brought on a fever. She was con- 

 fined to her bed several days, when to all ap- 

 pearance she died. The next day she was plac- 

 ed in a coffin, and the intelligence of her sup- 

 posed death conveyed to her mother. From 

 her good couduct while in the service of Mr 

 F. that gentleman had resolved to pay the ex- 

 penses of her funeral, which it was arranged 

 should take place on Sunday se'nnight, a week 

 after her su|)posed death. On that day her 

 mother and several relatives came lo pay the 

 last tribute of respect to her memory, and, pre- 

 vious to the codin being screived down, went 

 to take a " last long lingering look," when 

 one of them observed she had not umlergone 

 the change u=ual on such occasions, and that her 

 face appeared rather flushed. A surgeon was 

 sent for, who ordered her to he ])iaced in a 

 /f warm bath, and applied the remedies usually 

 resorted to to recover persons apparenlly 

 drowned, and which were h.ippily crowned with 

 complete success, as the young woman in a few 

 hours was able to speak, and is now in a fair 

 way of recovery. — Lnndon Farmer's Journal. 



NFAY ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, F?".BRU.\RY 4, 1825. 



IMPROVED BREED OF SWINE. 

 We have, heretofore, frequently published state- 

 ments and testimonials in favor of the Breed of Sicine, 

 which the Hon. Oliver Fiske has been so laudp.bly 

 solicitous to introduce and disseminate amonj- our 

 Cultivators, for the advanceme'ut of the agricultural 

 interest, and the benefit of the public* We are hap- 

 py, at this time, to have it in our power to corroborate 

 our former favorable notices of this valuable race of 

 animals by the following observations of the'Honora 

 ble Levi Lincoln, President of the Worcester Agri- 

 cultural Society : and we know of no person, whose 

 opinions are entitled to greater weight, or probably 

 possess greater influence with the N'ew England Kar- 

 aicrs. 



[communicated for the s. f.. farmer.] 



Worcester, Jan. 21. 1825. 

 To Hon. Oliver FiSKr, 



Cor. Sec''!/ of JVorcesler A'^ncultural Svcicly. 



Dear Sin,, — I have great pleasure in volunta- 

 vily olleriiig myself as your compurgator in the 

 representations, with which you have recently 

 favoured the public,' of the e.^collence of the 

 Bedford breed of Swine. The care and perse- 

 verance wliii'h have marked your altenlion to 

 the prospects jmd value of these animals, and 



* .See New England Farmer, Vol. i. 107, Vol. ii. 

 C69, Vol. iii. 150, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the success vfhjch has followed your exertions 

 to introduce them to the favor of pracricoi farm- 

 ers, require at least an arknoivledgemcnt of ob- 

 ligation from all those who hnve been parlicu- 

 Inrly benefited by your liber:\lity, and from no 

 one" more than myself. Thr .leed of Swine has 

 taken the place of a long '•.-■gcd, long-i)o«ed, 

 fiat-sided thriftless race, cal!':i! :>y some the Irish. 

 breed, by others the Ru^'ia. ,> 'ixh would barely 

 pay by theirweight forordinar^ ic^eping, and nev- 

 er for one half the expense of f^^;-ning, if indeed 

 grain would make them fat. 1 f'o not intend to 

 enter into any controversy concerning the com- 

 parative productiveness of llie Bedford breed, 

 and that in other parts of the c unly called the 

 '■'■mixed Bjijicld .,'"'' because nanus are often so 

 iina[]proprialely used, that i( is at least possible, 

 the Swine which possess so many properties in 

 common, may have the same origin, allhough 

 now diflferenily designated. The /lo.si'rire excel- 

 lence of lliose'for which this neighbourhood is 

 indebted to you, is sufficiently well allesled by 

 facts which have been publisheil. As, however, 

 in one of your communxations you referred to 

 me, it may not be improper that I should en- 

 dea\our to justify the reference, by slating the 

 results of personal experience on ihe subject 

 Within a few days past, 1 have had three pigs 

 butchered, from the same lilier, firecisely 7^ 

 months old. Their weights when dressed were 

 2.30, 23.5, and 2301 lbs. One sold in Boston for 

 6} rents per lb. ; the others were put up here 

 for family use. The expense of keeping and 

 fattening tbe«e pigs, I am satisfied, was less than 

 with anv other breed 1 have ever raised, and 

 the proportion of bone and ofiT.il lo Ihe valuable 

 parts was surprisingly small. I have 15 olhers 

 more on my farm, part designed for the market 

 in the Spring, and part to be kept over as store 

 swine, and their appearance will furnish ocular 

 satisfaction of the propriety of all which ha-^ 

 been said in favor of the breed. Would it not 

 be useful to Farmers lo be heller informed ol 

 the hislory ol this race, and of Ihe time and 

 manner of their introduction here? 

 With great regard, 



Your obedient servant, 



LEVI LINCOLN. 



Agreeably lo Ihe suggestion in Ihe above let- 

 ter, I have obtained the following accounf of (he 

 introduction of this breed of swine from Ihe 

 lion. T. Pickehinc. He saw them first on a farm 

 of Gen. r.iDGELV, at Hampton, 14 miles from 

 Philadelphia. Gen. R. informed him that they 

 were brought to this country, as a present lo 

 Gen. Washinoton, from the Duke of Bedford, 

 who committed thera to the care of an English 

 farmer by the name of Parkinson. This man 

 look a farm in the neighboiirliood of Baltimore ; 

 but instead ol' sending the swine lo Gen. Wash- 

 ington, Parkinson sold them. Gen. Ridcelv es- 

 teemed them very highly, and sent Col. Picker- 

 i.NG a [>air of them, in a vessel bnimd to Salem. 



.Mr .IniiN Reed of Roxbury obtained Ihe breed 

 from t.'ol. P.'s stock ; from Mr Reed I obtained 

 the ofl'-pring from separate litters, and transfer- 

 red them ti> Worcester, where, by avoiding the 

 breeding directly in and in, 1 have preserved 

 ihem without ibeir degenerating. The race is 

 most perfect and valuable, when unadulterated, 

 — liut aflords a mcst valuabh^ improvement to 

 our native breed, when judiciously crossed 



T. G. FiLSSEXDEN, Esq. O. I'lcKE. 



ADVANTAGES OF KEEPING SWINE. 



It has heretofore been fashionable among ag- 

 riculturists of eminence lo condemn the prac- 

 tice of keeping swine, as unprofitable, and in 

 some cases, ruinous lo the farmer. Old Eno-- 

 lish writers, among whom were Markham, Mor- 

 timer, Lisle, and some others, enlarge on the 

 d.s. idvanlages of [)ig-keeping, and Ihe author 

 l.isl mentioned gives it as an old and true say- 

 ing that " a sow is enough to ruin a poor man." 

 .Some modern writers likewise advise Ihe sub- 

 stitution of mutton for pork as an article of 

 famii consumption. But the majority both of 

 scientific and practical husbandmen exjiress fa- 

 vourable opinions of the practice of keeping 

 swme at least to a certain extent, and give the 

 folloiving among other facts and arguments to 

 justify such opinions. 



The sow is \ery prolific, producing more 

 young than any other domesticated animal. — 

 She will bring and wean properly, if well fed 

 and duly attended to, two litters of pigs in a 

 year ; and these may be made fine meat in six 

 (veeks. Pork may be failed more easily than 

 anyolher tjesh, nliich goes lo conslitule Ihe 

 food of mankind, i,s a most substantial article 

 for home consumption, and usually a cash arlicle 

 in market. 



Dr Deane observes that " the keeping of 

 «wiue is of essential advantage to Ihe husband- 

 man ; because they feed much upon things, 

 which would otherwise be ol no consiilerable 

 service lo him. The roads and commons, in 

 the farming towns of this country, afford swine, 

 excepting in winter, Ihe greatest part of Iheir 

 scanty living. For Ihey feed heartily, not'only 

 on grass, but many sorts of weeds, the to|is and 

 roots of fern, [lirakes] the roots of feveral 

 sorts of aquatic plants, &c. They pick up 

 grain and seeds that are necessarily scattered 

 about the barn and oul-houses, besides eating 

 worms and many kinds of insects. 



" Besides, the farmer's house afTords many 

 things which conlribiile lo Iheir support, which 

 would otherwise be lost, such as whey, sour 

 skimmed milk, the washing of tubs and dishes, 

 animal and vegetable food that has accidentally 

 got corrupted, decayed and rotten fruit, Ihe of- 

 fal of beasts, fowls and fish, and the grounds of 

 cider, beer, and other liquors." 



Great profits are sometimes made of swine 

 by persons who live in the neighbourhood of 

 woodlands composed of oak, beach and other 

 Irees which produce nuls, on which these ani- 

 mals will feed and grow fat with iiille or no ex- 

 pense to the owner. In this case, however, it 

 is proper lo feed Ihe swine a few weeks before 

 they are killed en Indian corn or peas, to harden 

 their flesh. 



The following eulogy on pork is from Law- 

 rence's Treatise on Swine : 



" The ancients were well aware of Ihe ex- 

 cellence of jiork, bolh fresh and preserved, and 

 were large hog feeders ; insomuch that we read 

 of stocks in Italy and Gaul amounting lo up- 

 wards of a thousand each, ready at one time, 

 and owe of the ancient writers qtiotes one hun- 

 dred as a small herd ofswine. It is not improb- 

 able, that the reputation of Westphalis for the 

 excellence of its cured pork, is derived from a 

 high antiquity. The superior delicacy and 

 luxurious tlavour of young milk ted pork is ac- 

 knowledged, allhough such -a commodity is not 



