No. 4. 



Medhim Sized vs. Large Hogs. — Food for Hogs. 



Ill 



travelling well to any reasonably distant mar- 

 ket. 



I had before this been breeding hos^s for 

 sale, and seeing at a glance, the great advan- 

 tage it was going to be to me in my packing 

 business, to have such a hog as the Berkshire 

 in general use, I at once engaged in it largely. 



True it is, that I cannot give up my farm, 

 and my attention and capital, to the breeding 

 of fine stock, without a prospect of making 

 money by it; but that was the secondary ob- 

 ject 1 had in view — my pork-packing busi- 

 ness was of the first importance to me. I 

 saw and dreaded the efforts that were made 

 to introduce an extremely large hog into 

 Kentucky, for I had about this time trans- 

 ferred my pork business to that state, and had 

 gone to very great expense in erecting an 

 extensive establishment back of Covington, 

 and intended making my entire purchases in 

 the state. We can make no use in this mar- 

 ket, of animals weighing from 400 to 600 lbs., 

 even though they may be well fatted. A hog 

 of the proper form and quality of meat, that 

 matures at ten or twelve months old, so as to 

 fatten properly, and then weighs from 200 to 

 300 lbs., is the sort for which we will give 

 the highest price, because it yields us the 

 greatest profit. And most assuredly it will 

 also pay the farmer best. We have no popu- 

 lation to supply, that will consume large, 

 coarse, indifi'erently cured meat. Our prin- 

 cipal demand is for city and family use, both 

 here and in the cities of the south and east. 

 The ham is with us the most valuable part 

 of the hog, and the celebrity of those cured 

 in Cincinnati is now great. This part must 

 be heavy without being large — round, thick 

 and plump; the flesh, though principally lean, 

 yet marbled with fat. Next to the ham the 

 lard and side meat yield us the greatest re- 

 turn — the former must be abundant in quan- 

 tity and fine grained, which never is the case 

 with any hog until he has somewhat ma- 

 tured ; the latter must carry its thickness 

 throughout, having no thin flanky parts, and 

 must be fat — and last we rank the shoulder 

 and the jowl. 



Many of the Boston and Richmond dealers, 

 and those from the other cities in the east 

 and south, come here annually to have meat 

 packed ; they all prefer such a hog as I have 

 described, and will buy no other if they can 

 help it. How the drovers, who are repre- 

 sented as driving to Richmond and Charles- 

 ton, and as preferring the largest sized hogs, 

 can possibly dispose of such animals there, I 

 cannot understand. Nor how meat of a size 

 that I know from experience cannot be cured, 

 even with the aid of cool cellars, here, can be 

 kept there, surprises me. Think of a pair of 

 hams, Mr. Editor, weighing 148 lbs. in the 

 climate of Charleston, or Richmond, or Bal- 



timore ! They would indeed require to be 

 cut in two — and then what a sightly object! 



Still some regions of country may require 

 a larger hog than others ; and to supply those 

 who may think so, Mr. A. B. Allen, now on 

 his way to England, will import for me some 

 of a size sufficient to suit any taste. For my 

 own part, and for my use for packing, I want 

 neither an extravagantly large hog, nor yet 

 a very small one. A hog that has to be red 

 two winters, never will pay first cost; if ho 

 can be had of sufficient size without winter- 

 ing at all, so much the more profit. A spring 

 pig killed in the fall at 200 lbs. nett, will evi. 

 dently pay better than if the same hog had 

 been kept over winter, and reached the se- 

 cond fall 500 lbs. nett. 



1 have been speaking now as a pork-packer, 

 not as a breeder; and what I have said, I say 

 in all sincerity. I have no desire to injure 

 the business of any other breeder of improved 

 hogs, nor to prevent their continuing theii 

 improvements to as high a point as they 

 please. But I do regret to see gentlemen of 

 science and experience going back to a large, 

 coarse hog, such as the Woburn, Irish Gra- 

 zier, or Leicester, when they can procure a 

 breed so infinitely superior — the improved 

 Berkshire. John Mahard, Jr. 



Preparation of Food for Hogs. 



Grain is worth far more, as food for ani- 

 mals, ground than unground. Cooking food, 

 also adds greatly to its value. Some have 

 estimated cooked meal at fifty per cent, moro 

 in value than uncooked. There can be no 

 doubt that grinding and cooking grain will 

 make an improvement, far excelling in value 

 the cost of these operations. They will pro- 

 bably add nearly 100 per cent, to the value 

 of the food. 



It is well to have a mixture of food for 

 hogs ; it is less cloying, and induces more 

 thrift. Roots of various kinds, with apples 

 and meal, make an excellent and cheap food. 

 Pumpkins may be added, or pumpkins, meal 

 and apples, may be used, if no roots are at 

 hand ; sweet pumpkins and sour apples, with 

 meal, form a very palatable and nourishing 

 dish. 



All these kinds of food, excepting the meal, 

 and that may be used sparingly, are very 

 cheap, and yield a large amount to the acre. 

 Apples are produced with little labour, after 

 the trees once attain a good size. They are 

 probably the cheapest food that can be pro- 

 duced in New Eng-land or the Middle States. 

 And even in the West, where grain is raised 

 with little expense, apples may be produced 

 with little expense also. — Far. Jour. 



Mr. Allen has returned with specimens of the finest 

 breeds of hogs and cattle.— Ed. 



