NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED DV TllO.MAS \V. SllICPAIil), UtXJEKS' BUILDINGS, CU.\(JPJ-.SS STRKE'l , (roURI'lI DOOIl FIIOM tiTATE SI RKKT.) 



L. 11. 



B0ST(3lN, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 182.). 



No. }{. 



Fanner's and Gardener's Remembrancer. 



[bv the editor.] 

 )1TI0NAL REMARKS ON FOOD FOR SWLXK. 

 1 our last paper (pp. 1*^, .">0,) we went some- 

 it at large into tiio consideration of llio liif- 

 ;nt kinds" ot' food for swine, and the dilTer- 

 tnodes of preparing such food, without an 

 ntion of conlinuinsj or soon resuming- tho 

 ect. But some further information, con- 

 linc: these topics, liavina; since occurred to 

 which may lead to practical results of some 

 tj', we proceed to place it before our read- 



n Enstlish farmer, whose observations arc 

 ed with approbation in Monk's Au:ricullural 

 "onary, says '• from an accurate experiment 

 e last year, I dare venture to recommend 

 d potatoes as an excellent food for hogs, 

 pork, produced by this food, was equal to 

 of barley and beans ; but at present I can- 

 exactly ascertain the comparative experi- 

 t with regard to expense ; however, I ani 

 pinion that roasted or baked potatoes, con- 

 the improvement of the hogs, is as 

 p a food, if not cheaper than can be given 

 1 roast my potatoes on a kiln similar to 

 is used by oat-meal sheilers for drying 

 oats. The action of the tire, by dissipat- 

 he crude juices that are contained in raw 

 oes, reduces them to a state highly whole- 

 and nutritious. Boiling does this in pari, 

 ot so efl'ectually. A potatoc roasted inllie 

 ler thus described par{..kes much of the 

 e of a chesnut, and perhaps is not greatly 

 ,or to it."' 



he 4th Vol. of Communications to the 



i of Agriculture, p. 996, contains a long 



on '• Baking Potatoes"' together vvilh a 



ing of an oven for that purpose, by Mr. VV. 



epont. Mr. P. says '' Potatoes cured by 



g are not so apt to turn sour, or scour the 



; are more dry, so that the animal fed 



them drinks a deal more, and they become 



hard when cold, so as to be llung to the 



with more convenience than when steam- 



They were used chiefly, in fattening neat 



and sheep. But pigs were likewise fat- 



wilh baked potatoes, and the pigs were 



lavored, particularly the iat. The i)igs 



jwards the latter end a few whole peas af- 



ch meal." The oven for baking the po- 



, used by Mr. Pierrepont, was of cast iron 



a brick furnace in such a maimer as to be 



1~iced by the fJame at the bottom and three 

 sides. The potatoes were placed in ves 

 ailed digesters: which digesters '• must 

 • in contact with the tire, and even when 

 ' on cast iron must have legs so that they 

 t touch the cast iron. These ve.'-sels 

 have lids, steam tight, with valves, and 

 icker the potatoes are doue in reason the 



riter in the Bath papers, vol. iii, p. 296, 



volume from which this is extracted (as referred 



) nnay be found in the Library of the Aiassa- 



Agricultural Society, and may be profitably 



ed by any person who contemplates feeding- 



T other animals w-lh potatoes ou a larje scale. 



savs " Potatoes should be dressed in an iron [)ot 

 over a slow fire, xa'iihoiit nni/ tcater titan xi'liat 

 tlic fire zvitl gradiiiilbj extract from ihc root iisclf. 

 r>V this mode they are far more dry, mellow 

 and rich than when any other water is added to 

 them." We should suppose that this mode of 

 cooking potatoes would be about equivalent to 

 baking or roasting. Indeed we do not perceive 

 why potatoes placed in an iron pot over a toler- 

 able brisk lire without water, should notbe bak- 

 ed instead of boiled ; but, perhaps if the top of 

 the pot is covered so as to confine the steam 

 rising from the potatoes, and the tire is quite 

 moderate, they might be boiled in their own 

 liiiuor. Experiments on this subject may be 

 very easily made, and there can be no doubt 

 but the dri/est modes by which potatoes can be 

 cooked, will be the best, provided the expense 

 of cooking them is not enhanced by such modes, 

 and we can avoid the risque of scorching or 

 burning the potatoes. 



Ii" your object is merely profit in fattingyour 

 bogs you must take time for the process, and 

 thus make them thoroughly i'at. A farmer stat- 

 ing the result of some experiments in the Bath 

 Society papers, vol. vi, p. 3G2, says, " 1 invaria- 

 bly found that the quantities of food consumed 

 [by fatting hogs] increased every week, till the 

 animal became three parts fat ; after this peri- 

 od they aie but little ; and almost all they ate 

 turned to fit. It is, Ihercl'ore, good policy to 

 make them completely fat: and that can only 

 be done by giving time." Very fat meat, how- 

 ever, is less p;»latable, and less wlioleeon.e for 

 common family consumption than that which is 

 less fat; but it will, we believe, commonly 

 command a higher price in market, and is to be 

 preferred (or many uses. 



Vv^e have alluded ([). 60) to some apparent 

 differences of opinion amongst agricultural wri- 

 ters on the subject of making food sour lor fat- 

 tening swine; and expressed our apprehension 

 that the wash might be injured by making it 

 too sour. We have, since that was written, pe- 

 rused a communication addressed to the lion. 

 Richard Peters, President of the Pennsylvania 

 Agricultural Society, written by J. P. De Gru- 

 chy, who appears to have been well acquainted 

 both with the theory and practice of this branch 

 of rural economy. This gentleman says " 1 

 differ with you, with respect to sour wash being 

 the most grateful and alimentary to swiue. In 

 England I know such an opinion prevails ; but in 

 this climate I am certain, mine eat inosi. anci 

 thrhe best while it is sit'fer." To this Judge Pe- 

 ters replies, " My experience has uniformly 

 been favorable to the sour wash both for health 

 and economy ; much less grain or meal vvill sul- 

 (icc ; and its fermentation with water lixes the 

 saccharine quality so essential to nutrition." 

 The lirst or saccharine slate of fermentation 

 in grain or mealy substances, generates sugar, or 

 converts the starch in the form.enting substance 

 into sugar ; but if the process of fermentation 

 proceeds ra[iidly, it is probable that all the su 

 gar will not be developed before the wash be- 

 gins to turn acid, aTid therefore there will be 

 most svgar (which is the substance \vanted) in 

 the wash, at the time the acetous fcrrasntution 



cn7nmcnce:i. This period will, therolbrc be ihc 

 proper lime to use the v.a^h for feeding hogs or 

 other animals. This position may bo illustrat- 

 ed by v\ hat some writers call the fonic ferment- 

 ation, or that process of nature, by which dough 

 is fermented .so as to become most suitable for 

 making bread. The precise time when bread 

 should be put in the oven is when it has under- 

 gone such a degree of fermentation as to correct 

 the heaviness itnd insipidity of the flour, or has 

 arrived at the lirst degree of acidification. And 

 if the dough was intended to feed swine, it 

 should be' given (hern in that stale of its fer- 

 mentation when it would make the best bread. 

 If it becomes decidedly acid it has lost a part 

 of its nutriment, and has begun to be dissolved 

 into its origin:il elements. .'\n analogous period 

 in the fermentation of a wash should, we think, 

 be chosen for feeding swine with it. And this 

 period will be while it is yet full of fixed air, 

 sweet, palatable, but slightly acid, or beginning 

 to be sour. 



But the question whether sTxect or sour wa.sh 

 is most grateful to swine would be more cor- 

 rectly decided by pigs than by philosophers. — 

 Place before your swine several washes in dif- 

 ferent vessels, but the messes made of the same 

 materials, s;iy Indian meal with mashed pota- 

 toes and w-ater. Let wash No. 1 be pcrfectlv 

 fresh ; IVo. 12 in the saccharine stage of fermen- 

 tation ; No. 3 slightly acid: and No. •! com- 

 pletely soured, and leave it to the Iiogs to settle 

 the 'Jisptite so far as respects what kind of wash 

 is invJt '■ grafet'ul" to the taste of those ani- 

 .mals; and u'e believe the kind which they pie- 

 fer will prove mo.=t "alimentary." or nourish- 

 ing and wholesome, as well aa mid (nolhsome. 

 It is said to be foolish to dispute about the tastes 

 of human beings (^de gustibus non est dispulandum') 

 and it is surely much greater folly to dispute 

 about the taste of a hog, when the animal is 

 ready to decide for himself. Perha])S, howev- 

 er, a change of diet, as regards sweet or sour 

 food, may prove useful, and if hogs are found 

 to prefer the former, yet now and then an acid 

 mess may give an edge to their ajipetites ; or 

 if food a little sour is best for their general 

 consumption, now and then a sweet mess may 

 l:e gi\en lor the sake of variety. 



There is a species ot fermentation of grain 

 liighly recommended by some tbreign agricul- 

 turists, as useful in preparing food for swine, 

 which may perhaps in some instances be adopt- 

 ed by the A.merican farmer. We allude to 

 mc'ltii'g grain, which is often done in England, 

 to feed pigs and poultry. We do not believe 

 that farmers in general, (even if we should re- 

 commend it) will be at the trouble and expense 

 of sending their grain to a maltster for the pur- 

 pose above mentioned, but perhaps some per- 

 sons may be induced to adopt that part cf the 

 process of malting which increases the nutri- 

 ment of the grain. They may soak their pease, 

 Indian corn, &.c. till it begins to sprout, by which 

 means saccharine matter will be developed, and 

 either give it to their hogs while moist, dry it 

 in a kiln, or spread it thin and expose it to the 

 sun till perfectly dry, when it may be kept iu 

 the granary, and used when wanted. 



