34 



i\EW ENGLAND FARMER 



August 24, 1827. 



aume such quantities as will promote tlieir healtli 

 and expedite tlioir fatteninfj. 



When you first conimenco fattening yo.ir .sVii:io 

 saro should be used not to give them more than 

 they will eat with an appetite. If ihey become 

 gorged or cloyed their thriving is retarde :'., and 

 there is danger from staggers, and other diseases 

 conaequent upon repletion or the higli living, to 

 which these four footed epicures are addicted. 



The practice in Scotland is to rear swine chiefly 

 on raw potatoes, and to fatten them on those roots 

 boiled or prepared by steam, with a mi.'cture of 

 oats, barley or bean and pease meal. Their 

 troughs should bo often replenished with a small 

 quantity of food at a time and kept always clean 

 and seasoned occasio;;;'vlly with salt. Mr Mar- 

 shall, an eminent English agriculturist s'tys " yoiing 

 pigs require imrm meat [food] to make them grow. 

 Corn (grain) and coid water will make them 

 healthy ; but warm beverage is considered as re- 

 quisite to a quick growth." The same writer men- 

 tions another mode of managing swine, which may 

 be worth attention. Some English farmers, he 

 says, " keep two or three little store pigs in the 

 fatting stye. While the fatting hogs are taking 

 their repast, the little ones wait behind them ; and 

 as soon as their betters are served, lick out the 

 troughs. 



" Besides the advantage of having by this ex- 

 pedient no waste, nor foul troughs, there is anoth- 

 er. The large pigs rise alertly to their food, lest 

 the small ones should forestall them ; and fill 

 themselves the fuller, knowing that they Lave it 

 not again to go to. 



" The disadvantage of this practice is, I under- 

 stand, the large ones are apt to lord it too much 

 over the little ones ; especially in a confined stye. 

 If however they had a separate apartment assign- 

 ed them with an entrance too small or the fatting 

 swine to follow them, this disadvantage would be 

 in a great measure remedied. 



An English farmer fattened S pigs in the follow- 

 iing manner, which may be recommended in cases 

 where a constant and regular attention cannot be 

 given to feeding the animals. He placed two 

 troughs in the stye : one he filled with raw pota- 

 toes, the other with peas, and gave no water. — 

 When the pigs were thirsty they ate the potatoes. 

 In this way, it is probable, that the animals could 

 not only do without water, but likewise needed no 

 brimstone, antimony, nor other medical substances, 

 for raw potatoes are cooling and drastic ; and 

 might serve at once for food and physic. Instead 

 of peas probably dry Indian corn, or what would 

 be still better dry Indian meal might be substitut- 

 ed. 



Rubbing and currying the hides of fatting hogs 

 IS not only grateful to Jhem, but conducive to their 

 health and thriftiness. In every stye a strong 

 post should be placed for them to rub against. — ■ 

 They should have plenty of litter, which will be 

 the means not only of contributing to tlieir com- 

 fort, but increasing the most valuable manure. 



The Complete Parmer says " when hogs are 

 fattened entirihi on acorns, chesnuts, and other 

 productions of tiie forest, the flesh will eat much 

 better and sweeter than if fatted in a stye. Some 

 indeed say their fat will not be so solid nor so 

 profitable, and therefore they commonly shut them 

 up a week or ten days and feed them with dry 

 peas ; but this is a mistake ; experience having 

 »hown that hogs, fatted with acorns only, 1wve thtir 

 ^t aa solid as those fatted with peas." 



The acorns liere recommended are probably 

 those of the Englisli oak. In the United States, 

 the acorns of the white oak, anil of the shrub oak 

 would, perluips, prove most valuable as food for 

 sv.ine. It might be well to try tliem, not only raw 

 but steamed or boiled, and likewise ground into 

 meal, and given witli as well as without other mi.K- 

 tures. 



Soaking corn for swine is no doubt a useful 

 practice ; grinding it still better. If a wash or 

 mixture for swine be permitted to ferment till it 

 becomes sweet with a little acid it will bo the bet- 

 ter ; but it should not be sui.'^red to become quite 

 sour. Malting corn or suffering it to sprout in- 

 creases its sweetness, and ol course its nutritive 

 power. 



ON THE TRANSPORTATION OP FISH 

 FROM SALT TO FRESH WATER. 



An interesting article on this subject, by J, 

 M'CuUoch, M. D. F. R. S. &c. was published in 

 the Journal of the Royal Institution, London, and 

 republished in " Tlie Boston Journal of Philosophy 

 and the Arts, vol. iii. page 31. The following 

 abridged view of the contents of this important 

 paper, will, we believe give most of the material 

 facts relating to its objects. 



The writer alludes to a former communication 

 on the transportation of fish from salt to fresh 

 water, and says a " Mr. Arnold, who has carried 

 on these experiments, at my wish, with great zeal, 

 has succeeded in adding many more to the list ; 

 and, bolh in respect to the physical fact, and to 

 the question of economy, the success has been 

 far greater than any one was willing to believe. 



" It is certain that the flavour of every fish 

 which has yet been tried has been improved, and 

 I can vouch for the superiority of the basse, the 

 mullet, the loache, the alewive and the sole, from 

 the pond, to those from the sea. This might be 

 e.\pected, for it is what happens notedly with re- 

 spect to oysters. 



" The sole becomes twice as thick as a fis i of 

 the same size from the sea, and its skin also he- 

 comes extremely dark or nearly black. 



"The plaise also increases materially in tlick- 

 ness, and loses its spots. In some cases, i. ap- 

 peared throe times as thick as iu the sea. The 

 basse also turns much thicker and improvis in 

 delicacy. 



" The mullet almost ceases to grow in leigth, 

 but enlarges in breadth, and presents a nuch 

 deeper layer of fat. 



" Crabs and prawns have found their own way 

 into the pond, as have leaches, and some (Jher 

 small fish ; and while formerly, there were rone 

 of the former two, the water is now absolutely 

 swarming with them. Thus also, apparently, he 

 eels have multiplied ; as it is now easy to take a 

 cart load at once, where formerly a dozen or two 

 was a large capture. 



Oxygen is much more easily disengaged fron 



in ponds and enclosures ; and with regard to 

 many, it also appears that it is indifferent whether 

 the water is salt or fresh, or brackish, or alter- 

 nately fresh and salt. 



" It is also found that they may be fed in such 

 inclosures, if necessary, as our domestic animals 

 are; but that if sufficient numbers and kinds are 

 placed together, they feed each other without re- 

 quiring further care. 



" It is further observed that every, or almost 

 every species, improve in flavour and quality, as 

 oysters are known to do, under transportation. 



" It is well known that, of all the fish broughl 

 to market, a very small proportion is in good con- 

 dition, the rest being apparently ill fed ; and 

 hence the number of bad fish so well known to 

 fish-mongcis. 



" It is m; Ji better known that, from bad weather, 

 or other causes, the supply of the market is very 

 irregular. Thus the public suflier when the supply 

 is short, and the merchant when there is a glut. 



" The proposed plan, if executed, would bring 

 the fish within our own power to be taken alive 

 when wanted, and from being better fed, in great 

 er perfection, and more uniformly good. It would 

 be like taking stalled oxen instead of wild Scotch 

 cattle. 



'i The plan is, to enclose, in any convenient 

 part of the Thames (since the quality of the water 

 is proved to bo indifferent.j a space suflicient for 

 the purpose. A dock, or an excavation in the 

 nature of one would be unnecessary, as the water 

 itself, iu many places not navigable might be en- 

 closed by a palisade. In this the fish would be 

 received from the fishermen, by means of well 

 boats alive. Those wliich chanced to die would 

 become the food of others. Many would breed, 

 as they have been found to do, and thus also pro- 

 dace food. But they might also be fed by means 

 of butcher's otfal, or other matters easily procured 

 in a great city, as was the practice with the an- 

 cient Romans. Prom the enclosure, the fish would 

 be taken by nets, the kinds in demand and the 

 quantity selected, and the bad returned for im- 

 provement. 



" With respect to fresh waters, wo have evi- 

 dence of the power of keeping and improving fish 

 in them from the practice of the ancient Romans. 

 Prom the testimony of Columella, and the other 

 writers, " de Re Ruslica," [on Rural Economy] it 

 was the practice of the Roman farmers, in the 

 earliest days of the Republic, to go down to the 

 sea and bring up the spawn of sea fish to the 

 fresh waters of Rome, where they multiplied and 

 improved. It was a brancii of farming. It be- 

 came the amusement and luxury of the rich and 

 great in the times of Imperial Rome. 



" Lastly, this plan has been recently put to the 

 test under the direction of the writer of this note 

 in Guernsey, by Mr. Arnold. In a pond of about 

 four acres only, many sea fish are now thriving, 

 and all those which have had sufficient time have 

 propagated ; all have improved in quality and 



fresh than from salt water. Consequently, the 



act of respiration ought to be easier in the former' many"very remarkably. This pond was at first 

 than in the latter ; and therefore it is not to be worthless, containing only a few eels ; at present 

 presumed, as it has been, that sea-fish cannot re- it produces a large rent, and can supply the mark- 



spire in fresh water. 



The writer adds the " Prospectus of a plan for 

 preserving and rearing fish for the London mark- 

 et," from which the following are extracts : 



t, when the weather prevents the boats from 

 Xoing out. It is remarkable also, that since the 

 ntroduction of the sea fi^h, the eels have multi- 

 [lied a thousand fold, so as themselves to form 



"Prom various observations and experiments, cmsiderable revenue. This proves that fish may 

 of which evidence is subjoined, it has been found bt fed merely by bringing diflferent kinds togp»> — 

 that sea-fish will live and thrive, and also breed (a; is the case in nature 



