NO. 4. 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



69 



Female IitcIiiKtry. 



The following facts are not only creditable 

 to the female industry of the country, but 

 conclusively prove that fennale labor, when 

 judiciously ap|)li('d, rei^eives its full reward. 

 Last summer a venerable matron of F'ranklin 

 county. Pa. seventy-six years of age, with 

 the aid of a girl, in five weeks made and sold 

 silk to the amount of sixty dollars, besides 

 attending to the ordinary duties of her house- 

 hold. Two young ladies in the same county, 

 in about six weeks, made silk, sufficient for 

 4000 skeins of sewing silk, which at five 

 cents a skein, amounted to two hundred dol- 

 lars. There are growing in the town of He- 

 bron, in Connecticut, eight White mulberry 

 trees from ten to twelve years old, from which 

 silk was made the last summer by two young 

 ladies of Mansfield. They spent five or six 

 weeks in Hel)ron, and after paying all ex- 

 penses of board, &c. carried home sixty dol- 

 lars. Anolhor young lady in Mansfield made 

 silk the last summer at the halves. She 

 made and reeled in nine weeks twenty pounds, 

 worth at least four dollars and fifty cents, 

 a pound. By this it will be seen that her 

 share amounted to forty-five dollars, and that 

 she received five dollars a week for her la- 

 bor. 



Rearing of Hog^s. 



There is, perhaps, no part of the business 

 of the farmer so badly attended to in this 

 country as that of raising swine. It is quite 

 a common thing for those, who are even 

 largely engaged in agriculture, not to raise 

 as many hogs as serve the purposes of their 

 home consumption. The reasons which lead 

 to these discreditable results may be traced in 

 part to the following causes, viz : — 1, Neg- 

 lecting in the nurturing and feeding the ani- 

 mals — and 2, indifference to the selection of 

 a good breed. That every farmer should not 

 only be able to raise^hogs enough for his own 

 bacon, but that he should have some to sell, 

 are facts so susceptible of proof that they do 

 not require argument to illustrate their tangi- 

 bility, nor will any be so venturous as to haz- 

 ard their denial. 



By the term 'good breed,' we do not mean to 

 say that size should preponderate in the choice; 

 on the contrary, that should form but a secon- 

 dary consideration, for there are other pre- 

 requisites which enter into the composition 

 of ' a good breed of hogs, that are of infi- 

 nitely more moment. Size, to be sure, where 

 a farmer or planter has a large number of 

 hands, is an object, but then to render that 

 object desirable, it must be attainable at a 

 small cost. Early maturity and a disposition 

 to fatten, are, therefore, traits of character in 

 'a good breed' of hogs, which should never 

 be overlooked. But it will appear obvious 

 to any intelligent mind, that however much 

 a hog may be predisposed to early maturity, 



or to take on fat, that that quality can alonfi 

 be rendered available where the animal is 

 well treated ; for even a race of giants would 

 be reduced to the size of dwarfs if badly and 

 scantily fed, as it is contrary to the principles 

 of animal economy, that uia^niludc and vul- 

 uwfican be given to the carcass of either man 

 or beast, who does not daily receive a gene- 

 rous allowance of nutritive food. Half feed 

 a boy from infancy to manhood, and what is 

 the consecjuence ] A meager, ill-looking, un- 

 dersized being is presented to our view, at 

 the period of his majority — and we would 

 ask, can we expect a better fate to await the 

 hog which shares a similar treatment] If 

 we do, we most assuredly have mistaken the 

 principles which obtain the developement of 

 the animal functions, and we will as assur- 

 edly reap a rich harvest of chagrin and disap- 

 pointment; nature, presented in the require- 

 ments of humanity, or those of the more 

 humble and pretensionless petition of the 

 family of swine — whether the animal body 

 belongs to the one or the other — must have 

 its necessities supplied — its wants and the 

 cravings of its appetite must be gratified, — 

 As well may we expect a luxuriant crop 

 from a sterile field, without proper manure- 

 ing, as to expect that hogs, however good 

 the breed, will prove profitable, if not well 

 and judiciously kept and fed. He, therefore, 

 who would have a plentiful supply of hog- 

 meat for his household, or for sale, must 

 begin rigid — he must be liberal, jnst and en- 

 lightened ; for true economy in the raising 

 of them, as well as in that of any other stock, 

 consists in consulting nature. To enable 

 them to grow, a proper quantity of nutritive 

 food must be provided. If the grower of hogs 

 expects to have his meaj-house filled without 

 it, he will be egregiously mistaken. Hogs 

 may be kept in a good thriving condition 

 upon a well set clover field through spring 

 and summer, and so may they also, during 

 fruitful mast years, in the woods ; but in ei- 

 ther case the proprietor will find his interest 

 promoted by providing full portions of roots, 

 as potatoes, rutabaga, mangle wurtzel, and 

 also pumpkins. The raising of these will 

 require labor and expense, but the difference 

 in the weight and value of his animals, will 

 more than repay him for both. If his hogs 

 are destined to run in a clover field, it should 

 be in one where there is a copious supply of 

 water, and the animals should be ringed to 

 prevent their rooting. We hold it, however, 

 best that they should be penned and only oc- 

 casionally permitted to range in the field, 

 and that the roots which they may receive 

 should be cooked either by steaming or 

 boiling. 



It has been affirmed that hogs do not thrive 

 well if confined in a pen and soiled with clo- 

 ver; for ourselves we are not *a believer in 

 this faith, unless where from neglect, an 

 abuse of this kind of feeding takes place. — 



