1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



731 



freeh water; where their troughs are regularly well 

 cleaned, and occasional doses of powdered brim- 

 stone and salt are given lo cool th;*. blond and pre- 

 vent vermin. I should suppose that, il was essen- 

 tial to have a shed to protect penned hogs from the 

 heat of a sununer's sun. 



But to return from this digression. The twelve 

 hogs above mentioned, were killed in Dec, 1835, 

 at a year old, and weighed one hundred and se- 

 venty-five pounds a head. I neglected to attend 

 to the most important item in the above experi- 

 ments: that is, the quantity of corn the several 

 parcels of hogs consumed each year. 



I proceed, with more pleasure, to give an ac 

 count ot my experiment in the year 1S3G. (I 

 should have mentioned that the twelve hogs be- 

 fore alluded to were not of the same stock with 

 my killings of the three previous years. They 

 were of the scrub stock of the neighborhood, 

 crossed on the Kentucky hoo-s.) My stock of kil- 

 ling hogs for tliis year, (1836,) were littered late 

 in December, 183-5. They were enclosed in a 

 fifty acre field during the year — were about twenty 

 in number, and were led twice a day with a half 

 bushel of corn in the ear at a feed. In the early 

 part of the year, when they were ])igs and small 

 shoats, the half bushel was not filled; in the early 

 part of the fill it was rather more than filled; and, 

 during the month of November, their allowance 

 was again increased. Nearly half of the fifty 

 acre field was in woods: a part of the remainder 

 was set in young clover and herds grass. The 

 hogs were killed in November, at a few days less 

 than eleven months old, and averaged one hun- 

 dred and forty-one lbs. a head. II they had been 

 highly led through the month of November and 

 December, and killed at a year old, I believe their 

 weight would have been increased nearly 30 lbs. 

 a head. 



The items of management variant from the or- 

 dinary mode of raising hogs in this vicinity, were 

 keeping the sows lat from the time they became 

 pregnant, until they littered; spaying and cas- 

 trating at a very early age; keepmg the killing 

 hogs tilt the whole year; cutting off the rooter, or 

 cartilage of the nose; and giving them, frequently, 

 &alt and powdered brimstone. I have not lost a 

 single hog from theft, or disease, during the two 

 last years, with the exception of one or two pigs 

 that were littered in severe cold weather. The 

 land grazed by the hogs was but little rooted, and 

 was manilestly enriched by their droppings. They 

 were led in a small pen kept well littered, and en- 

 couraffed to sleep in it at night. The manure 

 raised from them is considerable, and seems to be 

 of a superior quality. 



I should have mentioned that the killing hogs ol 

 the two last mentioned years, were fed, in the sum- 

 mer, partly on vegetables; and whenever they had 

 an allowance of vegetables, their ordinary allow- 

 ance of corn was curtailed. Having raised a very 

 unusually large crop of tomatoes, they were fed in 

 quantities of half a bushel at a time to the hogs: 

 they ate them very cautiously and sparingly at 

 first, but soon acquired great fondness for them. 



I have given you, MrT Editor, my limited expe- 

 rience on hog raising, and candidly believe that I 

 have much more now to learn of the nature, ha- 

 bits, &c. of this valuable animal, than when I first 

 conmienced to attend to the subject. From an 

 experiment accidentally made, I entertain the opin- 



ion that the most profitable mode of raising, is 

 never to winter a killing hog; but so to regulate the 

 breeding of the sows, as lo cause them to litter 

 about the first of IMarch; and then to feed highly 

 the sows and pigs two or three times a day on 

 grain and vegetable diet, fruit, &c. I Jogs well fijd, 

 littered in March, and killed in December, may be 

 made to weigh, ordinarily, from 150 to 200 lbs. 

 I have four sows that will litter in a lew dtiys, and 

 expect to kill the pigs in December next; when I 

 promise m^yself the pleasure of communicating 

 lc)r the Register the result of another experiment. 

 My neighbors are introducing improved breeds of 

 hogs, (tlie Bedford and No-bone,) and are very 

 much pleased, particularly with the former. The 

 Bedford stock keep fiit on very little food, and 

 make, I have been inlbrtTied, excellent roasters. 



W. 



ON THE USE OP HAND RAKES, INSTEAD OF 

 HOES, FOR WEEDING CORN. HILL SIDE 

 DITCHES AND FURROWS. 



To the Editiir of Uie Farmers' Register. 



Goochland, February 14ih, 1837. 



As much depends on the time and manner of 

 cultivating any crop, (in order to its success,) and 

 there being a great diversity, both in theory and 

 practice, in regard lo the tillage of corn, permit me 

 (after a long interval of silence) to give an exposi- 

 tion of the method of the culture of this most impor- 

 tant staple, as adopted by Mr. Thomas B. Gay — 

 who, in iny humble opinion, (as a skillul and prac- 

 tical farmer) should be placed among the foremost. 

 I had the honorof receiving a communication Irom 

 JMr. G., a few days since, which I heartily trans- 

 cribe, and ofi'er to your readers, hoping, that those 

 accustomed to use hoes, in the weeding of corn, 

 will at once renounce them — convert them into 

 rakes — and have three or lour rows weeded, in the 

 time employed in weeding one, with a hoe; and 

 the work much better executed. 



He writes as follows: "My mode of cultivating 

 corn, is this, "^riie first operation after the corn 

 comes up, (which is commenced b\' the time the 

 corn has three or four blades,) I run a new-ground 

 coulter each side of the corn, as near as possible — 

 then with a wing coulter, or some other plough 

 that will raise the dirt higher than the one already 

 used, I run two fiirrows more, one on each side ; 

 (by this operation, the land is thoroughly broken, 

 and leaves, for the rakes, the easy and pleasant 

 task, of cleaning the corn, nicely.) With the 

 rakes, (which are similar to those used in a gar- 

 den,) I brush over the row, backwards and for- 

 wards ; which takes away all the clods — leaves 

 the corn neatly hilled up — and has the happy eC- 

 lect of smothering all the grass in and about the 

 corn. As soon as the corn is large enough to thin, 

 I go over, and thin the crop, observing, to pull up 

 any weeds, briers, &c. that may have been left by 

 the rakes. By taking the briers near the ground, 

 they may be extracted with little or no pain to the 

 operator, and is much better done than would be 

 with a hoe, as it generally brings both root and 

 branch. By the time the grass again makes its 

 appearance, the corn will be able to withstand the 

 dirt thrown to it by the wing coulter, or small 

 plough, which may be employed with entire sue- 



