90 A COUNTRY READER. 



Is a Pig a Dirty Animal ? 



A pig is said to be a greedy, unclean feeder, 

 that will eat almost anything either in the vege- 

 table world or in the animal world. If, however, 

 a pig had been a dainty feeder, he could not have 

 survived the hard time he had to live through 

 when in his wild condition. But it is because he 

 will eat and thrive on almost anything, live when 

 other farm animals will starve, that he is so 

 valuable to the cottager and farmer. The butter- 

 milk after the butter has been made, the whey 

 after the cheese has been extracted, the grain 

 after the beer has been brewed, the dust sweeping 

 of the malt house, the outside leavings of the 

 corn, the odds and ends left on our plate that 

 we cannot or will not eat, the greasy water in 

 which our plates and dishes have been washed, 

 the outside leaves of green stuff grown in our 

 gardens can all be turned to profit, as food for 

 the pigs. And if a saucepan or copper is kept 

 going, which always ought to be where pigs are 

 kept, the small and diseased potatoes, every kind 

 of small and diseased roots, nettles, and all the 

 green refuse of the garden or of the hedgeside, 

 can be put into the copper and boiled into a good 

 dinner for the pigs. If it be near selling time, 

 and you wish to push your pigs on a bit, add 

 to the stew a few handfuls of meal and bran. 



