226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



For the New England Fiirmur. 



Tlie general charges of W., of " imperfeclionR, j and other superior grasses, is one richly dw 



— I unpardomllc blunders, rocklesBnesi, ne<'iiiTence 



AMKRICAX SWINE BIIECDER. | &c., can Ve mat only by n genoral answer." I cm 



MrPi'TNAm— Dear Sir — I nnlicod in a late | ""'V ^oy 'I'cy "'■'- unfounded— os unfounded as 



number of tlie " Massachusells Ploujliman," ac- 

 companied by liighly comniendntDry remarks by the 

 editor of that paper, some severe strictures, over 

 the signnturo of W., upon a work lately published 

 by H. W. Ellsworth, Ksc)., entitled the " American 

 S>vinc Breeder." I fully ajjree wiih \V. in his 

 general views ns to extravagant visionary theories 

 of the unpracticcd in farming', as well as upon any 



tliey are discourteous to a (.rentleinaii who has hon 

 estly endeavored to extend the knowledge and ad- 

 vance the interests of the farfning community. 



F may be excused for sayinpf that I have some 

 ac(|uainiance with the subject of which Mr Ells- 

 worth's bonk treats. Tlie truth and correctness of 

 most of the principles therein laid down, I have 

 verified by the test of experiment. I have had, al 



other subject, whether recommended in nn afrricul- so, the opinion of other persons enn-ni'ed in the 



tural paper, or published in the more imposin 

 form of a. book. But I do not like their applica- 

 tion in this instance, because I think he has done 

 great injustice to the character of that work, as 

 well as to the motives of the talented and highly 

 respectable author. I am of opinion also, thai his 

 remarks may do essential injury to the farming in- 

 terests, so far as they tend to bring into disrepute 

 a work which I believe all practical farmers, at 

 least OS far as I have been able to gutlior their 

 opinions, consider to be one of the most valuable 

 contributions to agricultural science that, for many 

 years, has been offereti by learning, industry and 

 praciical skill. 



I have the pleasure of knowing Mr Ellsworth, 

 and I can assure \V. he has entirely mistaken the 

 views and motives which actuated that gentleman 

 in preparing and publishing the work alhulcd to. 

 1 cannot doubt that W. v ill give me credit for ihe 

 most perfect sincerity in assuring him that it was 

 not " for the sake of profit" nor from "an ambition 

 to appear in print," that induced Mr Ellsworth lo 

 publish his book upon the reoriagof swine. The 

 subject was too humble for the pen of one who had 

 already distinguished himself as an author, to in- 

 duce him to suppose it could add much to his fame 

 as a writer, and there are too many, in our lime, 

 whose motives I have no right to question, who are 

 continually nursing the already too prevalent pre- 

 judice against books upon agricultural subjects — 

 too many who arc ready to throw a sop to this dis- 

 gusting bantling, the offspring of jealousy and 

 prejudice, that has set like an iuciibua upon every 

 generous effort for improvomcnt in ru-al economy, 

 to allow the learned author of the " American 

 Swine Breeder" to presume that the profit on the 

 work would add much to his wealth. Very little 

 has been written in this coiiniry, and our formers 

 ore perhaps less ncfiuainted with the business of 

 rearing and fattening swine than with any other 

 which 88 materially aflTccts their interests, and in 

 the wholecalalogue of English works upon farmini', 

 we find but ono, and that very imperfect, which is 

 exclusively divoted to this subject. Something 

 was needed to awaken the attention of farmers to 

 their true interests in this mailer, and to enlighten 

 them on a subject so intioiatoly connected with 

 good husbandry. Ereling the importance of such 

 a work, and with a single eye to the advancement 

 of agricultural knowledge, a few practical farmers, 

 on casting about, could find no one whose treneral 

 information, expuri'Mice in this branch of husband- 

 ry, and ardent devotion to the best interests of far- 

 mers, so well qualified him for the undertaking as 

 Mr Ellsworth. At their suggestion he undertook 

 the work, and with great labor and research per- 

 formed it, and with what success, lot the wonder- 

 fully improved cundilion of our swine, the extend- 

 ed diiiiorisions of our manure hi;aps, and the in- 

 creased produce of our fields, tell. 



tlie attention of the economical stock raiser." 



Hern then is the whole offence of this " ree 

 author. He has honestly given to the rearf 

 results of practical farmers in England, anij 

 eludes by recommending it to the consideratf 

 farmers in the Western Stales, and that it dei 

 the alleniion of the economical stock raiser. 



As to .Mr Bntnham's pigs, I have no doub' 

 gentleman considered the hay tea as ihc 

 cause of their death, but from a conversation 

 I had the pleasure of having with him a short' 

 after the appearance of his published occoi' 

 was led to infer that Ihc clover hay made use 

 him, was not of the first quality : that having ' 

 imperfectly cured, it was not entirely free 

 must. If I am correct in this inference, i' • 

 alone would have been sufficient to prodi , 

 disastrous consequences that followed. i; i 

 fully persuaded that Ihe los? of Mr B.'s pi 

 not occasioned by hay tea. By feeding for 

 siderable time on thin wash, unmixed wit 

 coarse or stimulating food to excite a heall 

 I'on of the stomach, and having no charcoal 



rearing of swine — gentleinen, loo, who are " un- 

 imlli7ifr to tend themselves to ileceive" who either 

 want the sagacity of W. to discover these " blun- 

 ders," or the ingenuousness to state them. If 

 these numerous errors do in fact exist, they should 

 be pointed out, and until tlioy are, 1 must bo al- 

 lowed the liberty of ranking these sweeping denun- 

 ciations among other too often repeated, sickening 

 tirades against "book farming." 



To prove the "nckliss" character of the author 

 of the " .\merican Swine Breeder," W. quotes the 

 case of Mr Biirnham's Berkshire pigs, whose death i ''^'''"'^ substance to correct the redundant bit 

 is attributed to one of the unpardonable blunders ' f""'*^" "^ •'"' digestive organs ceased to ai 

 of that book. Mr Burnham ascribed Ihe death of' ''"^ animals died of dyspepsia, rather than fn 

 his pigs lo the use of hay or clover tea. We are ' '^'"^'^^ oSTect of the hay tea 

 to infer then, that the blunder of -Mr EllsworUi con- 

 sisted in his recommending hay tea for swine. 

 Now supposing that gentleman (Mr B.) lo have at- 

 tributed the lo.ss of his Berkshire pigs to the true 

 cause, let us see how far the imtlior of the book in 

 question has been accessory lo their death. On 

 page 240 of his work, Mr E., on the subject of hay 

 tea says : " The use of hay tea in the store feed, 

 ing of hogs, we learn has been attempted by Mr 

 Saunders, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, with mnch 

 success. He was led lo the use of this liquid from 

 considering its efTects in weaning calves. In his 



(Mr Saunders') experiments as stated in the Agri 

 cultural Magazine, tlie sorts of hay iiiadu use of 

 were clover, sanfoin and lucerne, and ho thickened 

 the tea with grains, bran, or any kind of meal, and 

 e had the great satisfaction to find that he made 

 a single sack of boiled polaloes, when mixed with 

 this tea, and without any other ingredient, go as 

 far as four or five sacks, though boiled, where he 

 gave Ihem to the pigs alone. With a view, of 

 showing the praclicability of prosecuting the plan 

 upon a large scale, he (Saunders) gradually in- 

 creased his stock to upwards of four hundred, and 

 in the course of his cxperiiiieiits he useil nearly fif- 

 teen hundred hogsheads of the wash, consiiniimr, 

 when his slock was al the highest, ahout five hogs- 

 heads daily ; and incredible ns it may appear, he 

 maintained them collectively al the very low rate 

 of one penny a head per day, in excellent store 

 order and many of them fit for the butcher." 



Af\er further describing the effects of ihis tea, 

 as stated by Saunders, he adds "that the hay used 

 for this purpose must be of an excellent quality, 

 aiul that bad hay is certain destruction to pigs." 

 I hiia much for the experiments of Mr Saunders. 

 Mr Ellsworth, also gives the aulhority of Loudon 

 on Ihe use of hay tea. His oicii opinion on this 

 subject .Mr E. gives in the following words on page 

 iJlli : " It is Ktiggesteil lor the consideration of far- 

 mors in the Western States, whcllier advantigeoiis 

 resiills might not be anticipated from the use of 

 hay tea prepared from the wild or prairie grapes: 



With all deference for .Mr Burnham's o 

 I am led lo this belief from the circumstanca 

 formerly lost some five pigs in the same i 

 de.-cribed by him, and probably from the 

 cause, though I gave ihcin no hay tea. I 

 l.ito years avoided any losses in this way, 1 

 ing iny swine, every few days, a hearty it 

 coin, soaked in salt water and mixed with 

 ashes, having a considerable portion of ch 

 with it. 



Had the author recommended hay tea fort 

 of hogs in the strongest terms, which he 

 have been warranted in doing, as well from 

 riments made in England as in this counlr] 

 the effect been as bad as Ihat ascribed to it I 

 Burnham, still it would not, in my opinion, f 

 an apology for such unqualified censure upol 

 whole work — a work which it must be alloW 

 every candid reader, contains much valuable 

 ter, from which much useful in.ilruction 

 gathered, and should therefore be in the hsi 

 every farmer. 



Respectfully, yours, 



E. PHINN( 

 Lexington, %ih Jan., 1842. 



BERKSHIRE HOGS. 

 Wilhin the last law years the Berkshire hq 

 been introduced. His symmetry, thrift, clj 

 iicss, fineness of bone, his excellent shouldei^ 

 hams, and, above all, his good humor and his I 

 ed deficiency in the organ of tunc, secured Ul 

 sal favor. In iny visits among Ihe farmersj 

 the introduction of this race, I have been 

 with their enthusiasm for their swine, resell 

 that of parson Trulliber, in Fielding's Hist 

 Joseph Audrews; and in finding them, 1 hi 

 most said, mora proud of their Berkshire p^ 

 their troughs, than of their chubby and rosy-CM 

 children round their supper tables. I am a | 

 admirer of the Burkahiro swine, but I could I 

 synipathise in these preferences : and my 

 fur human nature has considerably increased j 



the experiment, ul all events, in regard to clover, | the progress of the blessed Temperance refoBi ' 



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