SMALL HOLDINGS 153 



There is no variety of live-stock which is of 

 greater value to a small holder than the 

 Pigs on the pig. Most men who contem- 

 Sraall Holding, plate the acquisition of land 

 have kept a breeding sow, and are acquainted 

 with her habits, her requirements, and her 

 value as a money getter. As a rule, however, 

 their experience is limited to the type of 

 pig which is kept in the district in which 

 they live. This may or may not be unfortu- 

 nate, for it is not every man occupying a 

 small position who is able to obtain a sow 

 of first-class variety or type from a distant 

 breeder and to pay him market price. Small 

 pig-keepers, too, are frequently mistaken in 

 their method of production, and, in common 

 with large numbers of agricultural labourers, 

 they are accustomed to buy a small pig and 

 to feed and fatten it in a stye for a long 

 period — until, indeed, it has reached a con- 

 siderable weight. 



It should be accepted as an axiom that when 

 pigs have exceeded a given weight — which 

 depends largely upon the breed employed 

 and the method of feeding adopted — they 

 cease to pay, and the longer they are kept and 

 fed, the more money they lose. Modern 

 pig-keeping — and we are naturally speaking 



