44 A MANUAL ON THE HOG. 



They fatten in the pea field and potato patch in the fall, and 

 are finished on corn. He raises eleven pigs to the sow ; 

 kills at twelve months old ; average, 200 pounds net ; costs 

 six cents. 



Mr. W. A. Harris, Isabella, Worth county, breeds the 

 Chester, crossed on the grade Guinea. He feeds his sows 

 and pigs until tht; latter are large enough to " take care of 

 themselves,-' and turns them into the woods, feeding 

 enough corn to keep them gentle. In spring they are 

 turned into the harvest fields, from which they go to pea- 

 fields, then to ground peas and potatoes, and are fed on 

 corn a short time before being killed. He raises sixteen 

 pigs to each sow ; kills at two years old ; gets an average 

 of 170 pounds, net, which costs him six and a half cents. 



Mr. I. W. Carter, Walnut Grove, Walton county, breeds 

 the cross of Berkshire on common stock. He gives them 

 the run of harvest fields, orchards, and pea-fields in summer 

 and early fall, and fattens them on peas, turnips, potatoes, 

 and corn. He regards the feeding of sows (while nursing,) 

 and pigs for several months after they are weaned, of prime 

 importance. He kills at eighteen months old ; gets an 

 average of 250 pounds of net pork, which costs him six 

 cents ; he raises twelve pigs to the sow. 

 j It will be seen, from the practice of these farmers, that 

 while they have not made the raising of pork a specialty, 

 they have relied very little upon corn, except during the 

 latter part of the preparation for the butcher pen. 



It is a notorious fact, that those farmers who have de- 

 voted enough attention to provision crops to produce all 

 their supplies of meat and bread, have been more prosper- 

 ous than those who have devoted most of their time to the 

 production of cotton, and relied upon its proceeds to 

 purchase supplies. While Illinois farmers can raise more 

 corn per acre, and at less cost per bushel, than those in 

 Georgia, the difference in the value of the land, and, hence, 

 the investment involved, together with our mild climate, 



