156 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aprii, 



than the above account presents. Before giving 

 my own account, however, a few considerations 

 will l)e mentioned, which though more or less in- 

 cidental, are yet quite important to the subject 

 in hand. 



In fattening swine, very much of the profit de- 

 pends upon the breed of hogs fed ; some breeds 

 paying a good profit for what they consume, while 

 others, fed on the same amount and quality of 

 materials, barely pay or make a loss on what they 

 eat. Crosses of the SuflPolks or Mackays with our 

 best larger breeds are certain to pay well for fat- 

 tening, if properly fed. The best practical pigs, 

 however, that I have had any experience with, art: 

 those made by a half-and-half cross between the 

 Suffolk and Mackay breeds. The cross-bloods 

 possess the essential qualities of early maturity 

 and a tendency to take on flesh rapidly, combined 

 with bone enough to stand uj) straight on their 

 legs till the time of slaughter ; and can easily be 

 made to weigh from 300 to 400 lbs. , at ten mouths 

 old. With such pigs, I always feed out my corn 

 courageously, and realize a satisfactory return for 

 it in pork and compost. 



The amount and value of the compost made dur- 

 ing the time the pigs are fattening, will depend 

 upon the care and system used in supplying good 

 materials to them, in a well-arranged pen. The 

 materials thrown to the pigs a little at a time and 

 often, may be waste or unemployed substances, 

 of every name, which are rich in vegetable matter 

 — such as muck, scrapings from the forest, thick- 

 ly-matted turf, — especially if from a soil different 

 in kind from that to which the compost is to be 

 applied, — green brakes and bushes of a year's 

 growth, green Aveeds of every kind, the rich wash 

 centering in hollows, strawy horse-manure which 

 cannot otherwise be preserved from damage, be- 

 fore wanted for the land, &c., &c. The pen for 

 four pigs should not exceed some 15 feet square ; or 

 perhaps the best proportion, considering the con- 

 venience of getting tlie materials in, and the com- 

 post out of the pen, is some 10 or 12 feet wide, 

 by 16 feet long — thus concentrating the droppings 

 within a small space, making the compost up in 

 height rather than in length and width, and les- 

 sening exposure to evaporation. The pen should 

 be dry, cool and airy, in distinction from a slough, 

 should not be in a dark, miry, foul place away 

 down under the barn, and should be covered witli 

 a roof — a cheap one will do. Shelled corn should 

 be occasionally forked into the compost, to encour- 

 age the pigs to work. There should be a feeding- 

 apartment, leading out of the compost pen, and al- 

 ways kept perfectly sweet and clean. 



For feeding the pigs the first 8 or 10 weeks of 

 what may be called the forcing or fattening pro- 

 cess, or say through September and October, it is 

 well to raise a mixed crop of the lighter grains, as 

 peas and oats, or barley and oats ; for this kind of 

 feed causes the pigs to make more bone and size of 

 carcase in proportion to what they gain in pork, 

 than corn-meal does. For this period, I prefer 

 peas and oats to any other grain, and sow for the 

 purpose 1^ bushel of peas with 1^ bushel of oats 

 to the acre. The product is about the right mix- 

 ture for feeding ; and ground into meal and fed in 

 about equal quantities with cooked vegetables, 

 the pigs commence fattening finely, while at the 

 same time they make bone and grow rapidly, so 

 that fed the following two months on corn and 



cob-meal they easily attain a weight of from 300 

 to 400 lbs. eacli, dressed, and are strong enough 

 in their legs to stand up well till the day of slaught- 

 er. During this period, also, the refuse apples, 

 small potatoes, and meaner portions of various 

 root and garden crops, some or all of which are 

 always afforded by the fixrm, may be advantageous- 

 ly cooked and fed to the pigs. A boiler should be 

 set in a convenient place for cooking swine-feed, 

 andjihe boiling may be effected with very cheap 

 fuel. Two tubs should be provided to receive the 

 boiled food, and fed from alternately, — the mate- 

 rials in once undergoing the desirable fermenta- 

 tion while feeding from the other. The cooked 

 vegetables, smoking hot, should be placed in the 

 tub in layers with the ground peas and oats, the 

 whole mashed fine together, and after standing 

 covered an hour or so, the wash of the dairy and 

 kitchen may be added, making a thick soup of 

 the mass, which may then stand to undergo a 

 moderate fermentation. If fermentation however 

 is carried too far, the quality of the food will be 

 injured; but if suffered to proceed to. a mild de- 

 gree, the food is the more readilj' dissolved by the 

 fluids of the stomach, and more fully appropriat- 

 ed in the carcase. 



For the last 7 or 8 weeks, or through November 

 and December till the time for slaughtering, I 

 prefer cooked corn and cob-meal to any other feed. 

 The meal is more light and bulky than clear corn- 

 meal ; swells very much by cooking ; distends with- 

 out overloading the stomach ; is not .so concentra- 

 ted but what its nutritive projjerties are easily and 

 fully digested and assimilated ; and the ground 

 cob, besides its considerable amount of nutritive 

 matter, is known to possess alkaline properties 

 which go to neutralize the too great acidity apt 

 to be produced in the stomach by ground corn. 

 An accurate experiment has been made in Virgi- 

 nia, to ascertain, the amount of saccharine or nu- 

 tritive matter in the corn cob. Ten bushels of 

 corn and cob, and ten bushels of clear shelled 

 com, were in separate lots subjected to distilla- 

 tion. The ten bushels of corn and cob yield- 

 ed thirteen gallons of spirits, and the ten bush- 

 els of clear corn eighteen gallons. Allowing 

 that the ten bushels of corn and cob would have 

 given five bushels of shelled corn, there would be 

 left as the product of the cobs, four gallons of spir- 

 it, or nearly half as much as was afforded by five 

 bushels of corn. 



Having thus stated the incidental but impor- 

 tant considerations connected with the question I 

 am attempting to determine, I am now prepared 

 to make out an account of the profit of fattening 

 swine, based on personal knowledge and practice. 



Four early March pigs, of a first rate breed, are 

 placed in a pen when 6 weeks old, or about the 

 middle of April. Those of the same age are se- 

 lected, and if all of one litter so much the better, 

 as they will be more likely to live in peace togeth- 

 er. From about the middle of April till the first 

 of September, which is about 20 weeks, they are 

 kept on light cheap food, as the wash of the dairy 

 and kitchen, with a little corn and cob-meal add- 

 ed after the first 4 to 6 weeks ; and they also have 

 the weeds and other green trash of the garden 

 thrown to them from time to time. After looking 

 the matter over carefully, I have concluded that 

 if the light and mixed food of this period is esti- 

 mated as of the average value, per day, of 8 quarts 



