ESSEX SOCIETY. 25 



filthy fare a hog will put up with without grumblingj but what 

 food he will consume the most of, from day to day, which will 

 best promote his growth and at the same time be cheapest pro- 

 vided. And here is a wider field, and one containing more dis- 

 puted landmarks, than we can fully enter upon or settle. By 

 some it is contended that raw food, of every description, is better 

 than cooked ; others, and they comprise the larger class, say 

 that solid food for swine is more nutritious for being cooked. 

 Our own testimony would go strongly in favor of cooked food, 

 and some of us are of opinion that, if it be fermented, it is all 

 the better. Indeed, apples, sour or sweet, if boiled and mixed 

 with meal, are not only eagerly eaten by swine, but are nearly 

 as promotive of their growth as potatoes boiled and mashed 

 with meal. We have no question that it is the best use to which 

 cider apples can be appropriated. Some think that the wash of 

 a dairy is almost indispensable to the raising of pork; and 

 doubtless it is an important item in lessening the expense of it : 

 while others assert that hogs will take on flesh fastest when fed 

 solely on corn and cold water. 



But if these and other points, as to the kinds of food best adapt- 

 ed to the fattening of swine, are disputed, all are agreed that 

 regularity in furnishing the food is of the utmost consequence. 

 A hog will tell the hour of the day, by his stomach, with great 

 exactness. — If it be feeding time and his wants be unsupplied, 

 he will squeal, and fret, (who can blame him 7) and worry off 

 flesh faster than it can be put on by a flush of food at irregular 

 hours. Swine should, therefore, as a general thing, be taken 

 care of by one and the same person. If they be entrusted to a 

 number of hands, the old adage, " What is every body's busi- 

 ness is nobody's," will be too often verified, in their attendance. 

 With three meals a day in summer, and two in winter, we be- 

 lieve our swine are very well content. 



Judgment should be exercised in feeding ; for this, some head- 

 work as well as hand-work is needed. If the previous meal, or 

 a portion of it, be left in the trough, it is evident either that the 

 swine have been over-fed, or have lost their appetite, hi either 

 case, diminish or withhold entirely their food at the next regular 

 meal-time, and perhaps the next, and the next, until the quan- 

 4 



