100 ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



know of nothing better than corn-meal ; although apples, roots, 

 and vegetables may be used in the summer and fall, to some 

 extent. Swine should be kept well, and the sooner they are 

 fattened the better. A pig that will weigh 300 pounds, when 

 10 months old, is more profitable, than if kept until it is 15 

 months old, to weigh the same. That swine may thrive well, 

 they should be fed regularly — I mean about the same time every 

 day. When the time arrives that they are usually fed, they 

 will be squealing at the trough ; or, if they are of more quiet 

 disposition, they will be looking with intense anxiety for their 

 usual repast. Remaining in this situation, they will not thrive 

 so well as when they are regularly fed, and return quietly to 

 their nest. They should also have a warm place to eat and 

 sleep. Although they like to wallow in the mire, still they like 

 a warm bed. The question is often asked, is it profitable to 

 raise pork ? or, how the price of pork should compare with 

 corn, that the pork may pay for the feed, and the manure for 

 the trouble 1 



One year, I raised about 5,000 pounds of pork, and kept an 

 account of what the swine eat. They were kept mostly on 

 corn-meal, with some apples and potatoes in the fall. The 

 food was mostly cooked. Reckoning the corn at 75 cents per 

 bushel, the potatoes, apples, and what they received from the 

 dairy, at what I supposed they were worth, when compared 

 with corn, the pork cost about 7| cents per pound, offsetting 

 the manure against the labor. The swine were of a good kind, 

 and did well. 



In regard to cooking meal for swine, there are different opin- 

 ions. I tried an experiment, in 1841, which was published in 

 the Transactions of the Society, for that year. The result was 

 in favor of uncooked meal. But, as many farmers have a dif- 

 ferent opinion, I wish further experiments might be made upon 

 the subject. 



Since making the above statements, a communication has 

 been received from Francis Dodge, of Danvers, the object of 

 which is to show the expense of raising pork. The committee 

 consider it not to come within the rules of the society for pre- 



