THE SCHWEIN-GKENERAL OF GERMANY. 83 



more assemble, ascend the mountains, remain there for four hours, 

 and in the evening return to their styes. 



" Such is the life of the pigs, not only of Langen-Schwalbach, but 

 those of every village throughout a great part of Germany : every 

 day of their existence, summer and winter, is spent in the way des- 

 cribed." 



In France, swine are kept in herds, and in many districts the feed- 

 ing of them in the woods and forests, (le glandage,) under certain 

 conditions and restrictions, has been a source of no inconside- 

 rable emolument to the forester. Indeed, to such an extent was 

 it carried in certain localities, that it became an object of political 

 economy. But of late years it has much diminished ; the progress 

 of agriculture is fast sweeping away those immense tracts of wood- 

 land country which formerly existed in England and France, and 

 with them depart the denizens of the forest, wild or tame. 



Nature designed the hog to fulfil many important functions in a 

 forest country. By his burrowing after roots and such like, he turns 

 up and destroys the larvae of innumerable insects that would other- 

 wise injure the trees as well as their fruit. He destroys the slug, 

 snail, snake, and adder, and thus not only rids the forest of these 

 injurious and unpleasant inhabitants, but also makes them subservi- 

 ent to his own nourishment, and thus to the benefit of mankind. 

 The fruits which he eats, are such as would otherwise rot on the 

 ground and be wasted, or yield nutriment to vermin ; and his dig- 

 ging for earth-nuts, &c., loosens the soil and benefits the roots of the 

 trees. Hence, hogs in forest-land may be regarded as eminently 

 beneficial, and it is only the abuse of it which is to be feared. The 

 German agriculturist, Thaer, does not, however, advocate the forest 

 feeding of swine unless they are kept in the woods day and night 

 and carefully sheltered ; as he conceives that the bringing them home 

 at night heats their blood, and nullifies the good effects of the day's 

 feeding. He likewise considers that, although acorns produce good 

 firm flesh, beechmast makes unsound oily fat. 



But if he is a useful animal in this public point of view, how 

 much more so is he to individuals ? Among the poorer classes ot 

 society how often is the pig their chief source of profit. In Ireland is 

 this especially the case ; there he is emphatically " the gintleman what 

 pays the rint" better treated often than the peasant's own children. 

 The small cost at which these animals can be reared and fattened, 

 and their fecundity and wonderful powers of thriving under disad- 

 vantages, render them an actual blessing to many a poor cotter, 

 who, with his little savings, buys a young and ill-conditioned pig, 

 fattens it on all the refuse he can beg or spare, or collect, and sells 

 it at a good profit, or occasionally, perhaps, kills it for the use of his 

 family, who thus obtain an ample supply of cheap, nutritious diet. 



Were it not for this animal, many of the laboring poor would 

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