PRACTICAL FARMER. 



53 



PORK. 



Mr Editor : — 



I consider the ideas brought to view hy your 

 correspondents in No. 17, 18, and 23, of your first 

 volume, at pages 131, 130, and 180, respecting the 

 y)ropriety of Farmers keeping more Swine, than 

 is generally kept, so important to the agricultural 

 interest, that I hope we Farmers shall look over 

 their reasoning and remarks once niore, ai. least. 

 That they may be easily turned to, by those who 

 have not the Iwund volume, I have named the 

 numbers of the pa|)ei-s, and for these who have 

 the volume I have noted the pages, where the 

 several writers' ideas may be found ; they urge 

 the proj)riety of Farmers keeping more swine, 

 first, because that any given quautiiy of pounds of 

 pork can be raised at less expense than the same 

 number of pounds of good htcf, which I have no 

 doubt of; secondly, because swine's manure is 

 preferable to that of other animals, and that by 

 placing in their reach thistles, mud, and oats, they 

 make more, &-c. &c. 



But the writers seem to make their calculations 

 on potatoes as much of the food of store swine. 

 Experience has since shown that other equally 

 valuable as potatoes, can be furnished them at 

 loss expense. Apples, and Ruta Baga, have been 

 found as valuable, and double the number of bush- 

 els of the latter vegetable can generally be raised 

 on a given quantity of land compared with pota- 

 toes, and no doubt they are worth as much bushel 

 for bushel, for store swine, as potatoes, and a giv- 

 en quantity of land can be tilled, and the roots ta- 

 ken care of, at about the same expense, reckon- 

 ing the cost of seed, &c. Again, if swine are ke[)t 

 in i:ens, or yards, clover grass mowed and thrown 

 ill gruen is good food for them, and if a farmer has 

 a |ti!M-o of land contiguous to his hog pen, this 

 will ii:; foniid a great saving of roots — but he 

 may uini them out in a clover pasture several 

 mouths in sunnner, and they will there grow, and 

 tiirive. 1 hi>: I should not advise unless it be in 

 an orchard, or on lai:d soon to be ploughed, be- 

 cause ihrre would be some waste of manure. By 

 keeping m.-uiy swine is Jiot meant to keep more 

 than the rarmcr can keep without their suffering 

 vvith hunger, ard then they will be of fair size. 

 When |)ut.up to fat let their food be cooked or 

 soaked. Oats and peas will fatten them fast. I 

 would not recommend giving them much Indian 

 corn, or :i eal, made of it, but a little toward the 

 close of the fattening, produces the hardest, and 

 most palatable Pork. Clear pork is now from 25 

 to 30 dollars the barrel, in Boston, and generally 

 in Maine. A farmer cannot go into a more profit- 

 able mode of making money, and certainly ho may 

 euri. Ii his farm by it. 



I would suggest, that it is never profitable to 

 ninter early pigs — they should be such as are 



farrowed in September, or the early part of Octo- 

 ber, kept warm in winter. Such will need but 

 little expense in wintering, and they will make 

 fine hogs the next fall ; whereas early ones, cost 

 very considerable the first sunmicr, mere in win- 

 ter, and will be very little better the subsequent 

 fall when slaughtered. Early pigs should always 

 he killed the fall, or early part of the first win er, 

 after they are farrowed ; by some, they are thought 

 to produce pork, at as little expense as any ; I 

 think otherwise, as they cost nearly as much in 

 fattening, and large swine always bring most in 

 the market. — Maine Far. 



To CURE THE SWELLING OF THE THROAT IN 



HoGS. — In order to contribute to the usefulness 

 of your valuable ])criodicaI, and to inform the 

 |)ublic what 1 find from experience to be an infal- 

 lible cure for a certain disease in hogs, viz. the 

 swelling of the throat, I herewith send you a re- 

 ceipt for the disease with a desire that you pub- 

 lish the sHiiie in your work if you deem it of any 

 import and the same meets your approbation. 



Take of molasses ono half pint and a table 

 spoon full of hogs' lard — to this add of brimstone 

 a piece an inch in length. Melt it over the fire, 

 and when cold or in a liquid state, drench the hog 

 with it; and nine times out often it will be found 

 to have the desired effect. My hogs were aficct- 

 ed with this disease during the past year, and I 

 found the above to be effective when all things 

 else failed. — Far. Reg. 



Note. — We have no doubt as to the efiicacy of 

 the above prescription, but the trouble of melting 

 the brimstone can just as well be avoided; by sub- 

 stituting flower of sulphur for the roll brimstone, 

 and we have no question that if a tea-spoonful of 

 cayenne or black pepper were added, the prescrij)- 

 tion would ])rove much more prompt in its cura- 

 tive effects, '^^i he compound of molasses hogs' 

 lard and brimstone, can only act in their combin- 

 ed form as aperient and cooling; but if the cay- 

 enne should bi- added, a decided improvement so 

 far as the swelling of the throat may be concern- 

 ed, would be effecterl, it would then act as h stim- 

 ulant upon the indurated glands of the throat, thus 

 giving them resolution and enabling them to re- 

 sume their wonted action, and take up the super- 

 abundant secretions, and thus restore a healthful 

 condition to the affected parts. — Editor of the 

 Maine Farmer. 



A Mammoth Hokse. — There m now at the 

 stable of Capt. Thomas, of the Burlington Hotel, 

 a horse, recently imported from England, 5 years 

 old and well made that weighs 1750 lbs. — Bur- 

 lington Sentinel. 



