82 A COUNTRY READER. 



wild pig's descendants, our domesticated pigs, 

 have inherited frbm their wild ancestors a 

 natural inclination to put on flesh with greater 

 rapidity than any other farm animal. 



The wild pig, during the summer and autumn, 

 had every chance of getting fat. The condi- 

 tions were favourable, with abundance of good 

 food easily obtained on all sides, and little 

 need to be on the look-out against enemies. 

 Plenty of food with peace of mind are the most 

 suitable conditions to enable the wild pig to put 

 on fat in a short space of time. 



A pig's inside is so formed that he can eat and 

 digest for his size a large amount of food. 



An animal takes in and digests its foojd through 

 the stomach and intestines. 



The pig has a small stomach but a long in- 

 testine, a longer intestine in proportion to its 

 body than either sheep or cattle. In consequence 

 of the long intestine, pigs are able to digest the 

 food they eat more quickly and more thoroughly 

 than any other animal ; and as you have read, it 

 is not the quantity an animal consumes that of 

 necessity does good, but what the animal digests ; 

 in other words, what proportion of the food taken, 

 is turned into flesh, fat, muscle, and bone, that 

 does the good. 



Therefore a pig having a small stomach and a 

 long intestine proves that a pig can eat often, 



