318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



to divest himself of them ; which at length, after 

 half an hour more, he accomplished. I raised the 

 glass, and he went off over the widow-sill in that 

 crippled state. Whether iie finally survived that 

 combat, and spent the remainder of his days in 

 some Hotel des Invalides, I do not know ; but I 

 thought that his industry would not bo worth 

 much thereafter. I never learned which party 

 was victorious, nor the cause of the war ; but I 

 felt for the rest of that day as if I had my feel- 

 ings exczted and harrowed by witnessing the strug- 

 gle, the ferocity and carnage, of a human battle 

 before my door. — Thoreau^s Life in the Woods. 



For the New Ens^!and Farmer. 



THE PROFIT OF FATTENING SWINE. 



In the Monthly Farmer for April, 1854, there 

 are statements over my signature relative to the 

 profit of fattening swine in New England, to- 

 gether with hints as to the proper mode of con- 

 ducting the business ; and in the following num- 

 ber for May, there is a shorter article, confirming 

 the statements previously made. Since writing 

 those articles, I have further investigated the 

 subject, in order to prove the soundness or other- 

 wise of the views then presented. 



On the 21st of December, 1854, I bought four 

 very lean shoats, weighing respectively, 63, 61, 

 60 and 58 lbs., or in all, 242 lbs., gross live 

 weight. They were placed in warm apartments, 

 consisting of a pen for making compost, and an 

 e ating room. The litter made by two horses was 

 daily thrown into the compost pen ; also, about 

 every third week, a cord, or two loads of either 

 muck or forest-mould was put into the pen ; and 

 clean straw was added, at suitable times, for 

 bedding. The pigs were fed on meal made by 

 grinding ears of corn, or on what is called corn 

 and cob meal, and they were supplied with all 

 the meal they would eat with a good appetite. 

 Immediately after feeding them at a given time, 

 the meal for the next feeding was placed in the 

 bucket, and boiling water was added, and also 

 after awhile the wash of the kitchen, the whole 

 standing in a warm place till the time for feed- 

 ing, and the meal becoming thoroughly soaked 

 and very much swollen. Whenever a grist of 

 ears of corn was to be carried to mill to be ground 

 for the pigs, the same was accurately measured 

 up in a basket, well known to hold the right 

 quantity of ears, when even full, to make a 

 bushel of shelled corn ; and the pigs were charged 

 with each grist at the time it was measured. 

 Entire accuracy was aimed at in keeping the 

 account with the pigs, and I know of no chance 

 for a slip in the accounting. 



The business was thus conducted till the 14th 

 of the present month, when the pigs were sold to 

 the butcher for eight cents per pound, dressed, — 

 h.e charging three dollars for slaughtering the 

 four. Between the dates above named, the pigs 



consumed seventy-six bushels of corn on the ear, 

 equal to thirty-eight bushels of shelled corn. 

 During this time they manufactured eight cords, 

 or sixteen loads of muck and mould into the first 

 quality of compost, mingling the raw materials 

 well with the horse manure and straw for bed- 

 ding. They may be accounted with as follows : 



825 lbs. of dressed pork, at 8c. per lb $66.00 



Deduct 76 bu. ears of corn, or 38 bu. corn 



consumed, at an average price of $1.25 



per bu $47.50 



Deduct paid for slaughtering 3.00 



" paid for pigs at outset, $3.00 12.00 62.50 



Balance over market price of the corn 3.50 



Add 8 cords, or 16 loads of raw material 



manufactured into compost, worth a bu. 



of corn, or $1-25 per load 20.00 



From which, if you please, deduct the cost 



of supplying the material, say 50c. per 



load, which is rather high S.CO 12.00 



Profit on four pigs, over and above market 



value of corn consumed $15.50 



With regard to the price at which the corn is 

 charged to the pigs, I have to say that in Janu- 

 ary the thirty-eight bushels could have been 

 bought for a dollar per bushel ; and at less than 

 a dollar and a quarter as late as March, though 

 now corn is worth more than the price charged 

 the pigs. 



It will be found on calculation that these pig 

 gained some over fifteen pounds of net pork fo 

 each bushel of corn consumed ; which argue 

 pretty well for the mode of feeding, and for th 

 business of converting corn into pork and com- 

 post. 



Another year's practice and observation has 

 not disclosed any thing material for me to deduct 

 from the views formerly advanced as to the policy 

 and profit of fattening swine. I still entertain 

 entire confidence in the desirableness of the busi- 

 ness, when conducted with system and propriety. 

 Indeed, I have never seen the year in farming 

 when I was not well paid for fattening pigs of a 

 good breed, fairly reckoning their services as 

 manufacturers of fertility for the land. In my 

 judgment, it is sounder practice for the farmer 

 thus to add to his means for making crops and 

 keeping his lands in good heart, tlian by buying 

 the fashionable concentrated fertilizers of the 

 day, which too often merely stimulate the present 

 crop, and leave the land no better than they 

 found it. 



Notwithstanding the great prejudice existing 

 with many persons against the grinding and 

 feeding of the cob with the corn, it is sufficient 

 for my purpose to know, as I do by repeated 

 trials, that corn and cob meal, properly ground 

 and cooked, will make from twelve to sixteen 

 pounda of net pork for each bushel of corn con- 

 sumed. F. HOLBKOOK. 



BraliUhoro', May 22, 1855. 



The JuJur.E-TREE. — The seeds of this tree were 

 imported a short time since from the south of Eu- 



