CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE POOR MAN'S PIG. 



A pig may increase a pound in weight every day, and a pound 

 of pork per day is enough for a family. Tim. 



The man who keeps one, two 

 or three pigs usually has a differ- 

 ent problem to solve from the 

 farmer with a larger number of 

 animals, for in one case the pigs 

 are fed upon swill and refuse, 

 while in the other case they are 

 pastured or fed upon products of 

 the farm which might otherwise 

 be sold. The man with one pig saves wastage. 



The one-pig man must first consider the food sup- 

 ply. Very often the refuse from the family table, 

 especially if one or two cows are kept, will be nearly 

 sufficient. In such cases a so-called swill barrel is 

 made the receptacle for every sort of refuse food ma- 

 terial, often including the dish water. 



Swill is a proper pig food, if not allowed to become 

 stale and foul, especially if balanced as to contents 

 with middlings or corn-meal, as the case may require. 

 If the swill be mostly milk, a little corn-meal should be 

 used regularly. If it be mostly water, food scraps, 

 fruits and vegetables, there should be some middlings 



