SWINE. 107 



An ample supply of good drinking water should be kept 

 within the reach of every animal. 



VI. THE PIGGERY. 



In constructing a piggery, reference should be had to the 

 comfort of the animals as well as to convenience in feeding 

 them. It should be large, airy, and well- ventilated, and should 

 have (at least in a large establishment) conveniences for cook- 

 ing their food. It should by all means be comfortable and clean. 

 It has been generally believed that the hog is naturally a filthy 

 animal, delighting in mud and mire. This is certainly, in part 

 at least, untrue. No animal more fully appreciates a clean, dry 

 bed. To illustrate the value of cleanliness, a gentleman in 

 Norfolk (England) put up six pigs of almost exactly the same 

 weight, and all in equal health to fatten ; treated them all, 

 except in one particular, exactly alike, giving equal quantities 

 of the same food to each for seven weeks. Three of these pigs 

 were left to shift for themselves, so far as cleanliness is con- 

 cerned, while the other three were carefully curried, brushed, 

 and washed. The latter consumed, during the seven weeks, 

 less food by five bushels than the former, and yet, when killed, 

 weighed more by thirty-two pounds on an average. [For a 

 plan for a piggery, see " The House."] 



