194 THE HOG. 



with whey or skimmed milk, with the addition of middlings, barley* 

 meal, peas, &c. Hogs, as we have previously intimated, however 

 apparently well fed on potatoes, do not produce firm bacon which 

 swells greatly in boiling. Hence potatoes ought to form a portion 

 only of their diet, nor indeed are they essentially necessary. In the 

 Channel Islands the store hogs are fattened almost entirely upon 

 boiled parsnips, and they attain to an enormous size, yielding good 

 bacon. Among other roots we may mention carrots, turnips, es- 

 pecially Swedish turnips, and beet-root. All these roots should be 

 boiled, but may be given raw, though not so advantageously. Car 

 rots are highly esteemed by many, and no doubt contain a conside- 

 rable quantity of nutriment, and in addition to meal may be used 

 with advantage, especially when potatoes are dear and scarce, in 

 consequence of a general failure in the crops. They might, even 

 when given alone, with the addition of whey, or butter-milk, or skim- 

 milk, make the animal reasonably fat, as in the instance of parsnip 

 feeding, but we should doubt whether the quality of the bacon would 

 prove first-rate. 



" The same observations apply to Swedish turnips, which are ex- 

 tolled by some as superior to potatoes. 



" What will be the character of the bacon produced by such diet is 

 another thing ; an animal may be made fat, but the fat may be soft, 

 oily, and waste in boiling. 



" No roots, without a due admixture of farinaceous food, as pollard, 

 barley-meal, peas, &c., will produce first-rate bacon, and indeed in 

 the finishing-off, or last stage of feeding, it is better to omit the roots 

 altogether, and give only peas, barley-meal, whey, &c. The same 

 observations apply to pork ; even young delicate dairy -fed pork re- 

 quires to be finished off on a mixture of farinaceous food with the 

 refuse of the dairy, in order that the meat may acquire a due degree 

 of firmness. In this respect, as well as in age, pork differs from the 

 sucking-pig ; in the latter, tenderness and succulency are in the ex- 

 treme ; they render the young creature, when well cooked, one of 

 the most delicate of * all the delicacies.' 



GRAIN AND BEANS AND PEAS. 



" To dwell upon the nutritive qualities of grain in general would be 

 useless. The value of barley-meal, middlings, mill-sweepings, &c., 

 in the feeding of hogs, is well known. It is true that this food is 

 expensive, but then it is not used exclusively till the time for finish- 

 ing off, or need not be ; and, what is more, the expense is repaid by 

 the gain of the animal in weight, and by the great superiority of the 

 meat, which will command its price in the market. The rapid in- 

 crease in the weight of hogs fed upon barley-meal, peas, steamed 

 potatoes, with whey or butter-milk, is astonishing. They have been 



