1881.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



169 



the animal. By the Guenon system the value 

 of a calf can be judged at the age t>f tlirec 

 months, whether it will be prolilable to raise 

 it or not. 



The beauty of the system is that it is an aid 

 to all other modes of selecting stock. Wo 

 first look at a cow from tlie front and s.'c that 

 she widens as she gets back to her hips, or is 

 wedge-shaped. Next we look at her side, 

 and we again see that she rises ou her back 

 and descends on the belly as she goes back to 

 the tail, or, in other words, she is wedge- 

 shaped, too, from this point of view. These 

 two looks at her have enabled us to see that 

 she has a feminine appearance; that her head 

 is small and neat in proportion to her body, 

 with a waxy small horn, a mild but. large eye, 

 a broad muzzle, and that it is well set on her 

 neck; that she has a gold chest, and large 

 deep paunch, with large full ribs, fuller below 

 and joined to a rather high back-bone; that 

 is to say, she has not the breadth of back wo 

 look for in a beef animal. If a chine is double, 

 it indicates a cow above the average ; if the 

 chine i« single, sometimes we can lay our 

 lingers in three depressions in it at about the 

 middle of it, showing that she is a loose, 

 rangy cow, and fitted for her work. Now we 

 will look at her udder and see that it runs for- 

 ward as level as possible to the belly, and that 

 it is large, with four good sized, well shaped 

 teats slightly strutting from each quarter. 

 Now we gently approach her, and pat her to 

 gain her confidence, and got a chance to feel 

 her hide, her milk veins, and examine her 

 escutcheon. If we find her skin is thin, soft 

 and greasy, with short fine hair, with rather 

 furry nature, and showing the skin yellow 

 under it ; that her udder and her perineum 

 have soft thin skin, with very short, furry 

 hair ; that the milk veins are large, zigzag and 

 knotty, entering the body with good-sized 

 holes, and particularly if this vein is double, 

 extending and ramifying over the udder well 

 back in prominent veins, and if the veins ex- 

 tend over the perineum, we may then, with 

 great confidence, look for a large, well-shaped 

 and formed escutcheon, mai-ked first-class, 

 order first, by an oval ou eacli side of the 

 back of the udder, and perhaps two thigh 

 ovals or dips where the vertical escutcheon 

 rises from the broad or Ihigh escutcheon; and 

 just to finish and find all points corroborating, 

 we will look on the vertical escutcheon for 

 some spots of oily lemon-colored dandrud', and 

 at the end of her neat, lightly made tail to 

 find some large yellow pieces of dandruff. We 

 give a parting look to see that her hips are 

 rather large, bony, somewhat drooping, that 

 her capacfous udder has room to project be- 

 tween her legs. Then we feel sure that a 

 loose, open made cow, rather pointed, sharp 

 and well defined, and the contrary of what we 

 would look for in a flesh or beef-producing 

 animal; with a skin mellow and yellow, cov- 

 ered with soft, fine hair, and the nearer it 

 comes to the quality and color of a first-class 

 Guernsey or Jersey cow, breeds which have 

 for hundreds of years been bred for butter 

 making, then we repeat wc know she must be 

 a good, rich milker and butter maker; for we 

 never saw a thick, hard skin cow, with 

 coarse, long hair, that was a good butter 

 maker, or fit for giving anything but poor 

 milk, if a strong milker. 



The lecture was illustrated in such a man- 

 ner as to only be properly understood by an 

 explanation of the diagrams. Mr. Hazard 

 explained that the escutcheon consists of hair 

 growing upwards, forming different shapes, 

 while all the rest grow downwards. A num- 

 ber of questions which were proposed were 

 cheerfully answered. He thought that the 

 Guernsey is the coming cow, although lie is 

 also a strong advocate of the Jersey. lie con- 

 cluded his lecture by some remarks in refer- 

 ence to farming on the channel islands, and 

 displayed some large colored lithographs of 

 scenery on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. 

 He also exhibited specimens of shells used on 

 the islands in milking, in order to keep im- 

 purities out of the milk. 



On motion of Hon. Frederick Lauer, sec- 

 onded by Col. J. L. Stitcher, a vote of thanks 

 to Mr. Hazzard was passed for his admirable 

 lecture. A number of copies of his work 

 "How to Select a Cow," just from the press 

 were sold, and Mr. Hazard presented the Ag- 

 ricultural Society with a handsome volume, 

 bound in cloth for their library, for which 

 kind action another vote of thanks was ex- 

 tended to him. 



SWINE RAISING— A DIFFERENT 

 SYSTEM DESIRABLE. 



The American Agriculturist lius'so lung re- 

 commended improved pigs to its readers,witli 

 Essex as its model, that we apprehend a dif- 

 ferent doctrine may be considered as swine 

 heresy. We shall write of pigs from a prac- 

 tical standpoint, which embraces not only 

 raising them for breeding but for slaughter. 

 We do not consider the little diunky breeds 

 to be the most profitable. Tiiere are two de- 

 cided objections to them; want of growth and 

 unfitness for food. There are too many pig 

 pens or pig prisons. A warm clean and roomy 

 pig pen in winter is wise. During the season 

 of cold weather pigs want a home where they 

 can burrow and keep out of the cold, as this 

 is their nature; and when they are kept warm 

 it makes a decided saving in the amount of 

 feed required. In summer the circumstances 

 are all diflerent, as this is the season for 

 growth. Pig raisers have generally adopted a 

 system to make the most rapid increase. 

 They have supposed this to be the most profit- 

 able. They acted upon the principle that the 

 more food which could be stuffed in to a pig 

 the belter, and breeders have been governed 

 by the same idea, and have endeavored to 

 condense pigs as far as possible, reducing the 

 bone, muscles and other parts to fat, so that 

 the modem improved pig has become little 

 else than a mass of animated lard. Such pigs 

 a're not fit to eat, and people show their good 

 sense by not eating them. Improvement has 

 reduced the demand for pig meat in the 

 cities more than one-half, and in the country 

 it has nearly banished the pork barrels from 

 farmers' cellars. Why V Because the Amer- 

 ican stomach has not kept pace with the so- 

 called improvement in the feeding and the 

 breeding of pigs. If our stomachs could be 

 made to digest lard four inches thick, then 

 we might continue this improvement, but 

 since they will not, we had better reduce the 

 four inches of fat somewhat, and grow meat, 

 instead of lard, and try to produce feed which 

 will be more palatable, digestible, and salable. 



There must be more muscle and less fat, more 

 length of body and less chunkiness. In order 

 to produce tliis condition, there must be more 

 exercise and less stulling. The rich food 

 must be kept from the pigs, or fed in very 

 moderate quantities, until the "rounding up" 

 time just before slaughtering. If in good 

 condition they need not be fed more than four 

 weeks, during which time they may be given 

 all they will eat. The body should be made 

 fii-st, and then what fat is desired should bo 

 added afterwards. This plan will make 

 healthy meat, while a system which produces 

 a condition of over-fatness, kept >ip for 

 months, does not make healthy food. There 

 is too much fever to be healthy, which is 

 jiroved by the fact that pigs often become 

 foundered and helpless, and are speedily 

 slaughtered before they run down in condi- 

 tion. Pigs should be put into a pasture with 

 their mothers, and when they require more 

 food than the mothers can furnish them to 

 keep them growing, Ihey should be taught, 

 which is very little trouble,to go into an inclo- 

 sure by themselves, where they can be fed 

 and return again to the mothers at will. Our 

 swine run in the orchard, which is the most 

 natural pig pasture, where they eat the fallen 

 apples and the orchard grass, which is con- 

 stantly growing up to make fresh feed. A 

 clover field is the next best pH8ture,and green 

 corn stalks or sugar cane (sorghum) is the 

 best substitute for either. Roots fed raw in 

 the field are excellent. Wheat middlings is 

 the best supplementary food in the grain line 

 to give either to the sows or pigs; and they 

 should have enough to keepthcra in good 

 growing condition; it should not be a question 

 with the farmer how heavy and fat he can 

 make his pigs, but how much the growth 

 costs. If a pound of pork worth seven cents, 

 costs seven cents, then there is no profit, but 

 if it only costs only half as much there is just 

 so much profit. The benefit to a pasture in 

 which the pigs run in enriching the soil should 

 be taken into the account, while the advan- 

 tage of always breathing jiure air instead of 

 the fumes of a reekuig pig-pen, is of Vijst im- 

 portance. Pure air helps to make pure blood, 

 which in the course of nature, builds up 

 healthful bodies. These out-of-door pigs 

 would not show so well at the fairs, and 

 would probahy be passed over by judges and 

 people who have"been taught to admire only 

 the fat' .and helple.ss things which get the 

 prizes. -Such pigs are well adapted to fill lard 

 kegs, whereas the standard of perfection 

 should be a pig which will make the most ham 

 with the least waste of fat; the longest and 

 deepest sides, with the most lean meat; it 

 should have been enough to allow it to stand 

 up and help itself to food, and carry with it 

 the evidence of health and natural develop- 

 ment in all its parts. Pigs which run in a 

 range or pasture have good appetites— the fresh 

 air and exercise give them this— hence they 

 will eat a good variety of food and much 

 coarser than when confined in pens. Nothing 

 need go to waste on the farm for the lack of a 

 market. They will consume all the refuse 

 fruit, roots, pumpkins and all kinds of vege- 

 tables, which will make them grow. By ex- 

 tending the root patch, and planting the fod- 

 der corn thinner, so that nubbins will form on 

 jl, and by putting in a sweet variety, the 



