SMALL HOLDINGS 161 



move, expending energy, seldom resting, and, 

 in consequence, failing to lay on fat. From 

 this point of view, too, it is important to 

 remember that where pigs are fed upon such 

 foods as slop, which they can swallow rapidly, 

 they waste almost as much as they digest. 

 Nature has provided the pig with teeth which 

 are intended to chew and assist in the mastica- 

 tion of their food. Without thorough mastica- 

 tion and salivation, as is the case where the 

 food is too sloppy, it escapes the first form of 

 digestion — that which occurs in the mouth, 

 at the very door of the digestive system. 

 Although it is true that a second opportunity 

 is afforded for the digestion of the starchy 

 matter of grain, and pig food consists chiefly 

 of starch, the results are by no means equal 

 to those obtained where the starch is chiefly 

 digested in the mouth and in the stomach by 

 the aid of the saliva with which it is intimately 

 mixed. 



With regard to the best breed of pig for 

 use upon the Small Holding, it may be pointed 

 out that as the breeder requires two qualifica- 

 tions, size and quality, by which we mean 

 the ability in the young pigs to grow to 

 sufficient size and weight as quickly as possible 

 and to produce a marketable quantity of 



