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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOVEMBER 9. IS 6. 



Apples for fattening Hogs. — Although 

 the attintioi) of cur readers has been before called 

 to this subject, we bciieve its iiiiponauce is too 

 little a|i|)reciati^d geiierally; aud as the present is 

 the season for action, we shall lay a few facts be- 

 fore tliiMii, showing the advantages of eui|iloyinjj; 

 apples as food for fattening hogs, over other sub- 

 stances. y^ e shall first endeavor to show that 

 they are a valuable kind ot food, and secondly, 

 that they are a cheap one. 



First, with regard to their value. A corres- 

 pondetit of the Slaine Farmer in 1634 made the 

 fo lowing experiment. He comnieticeil feeding 

 his hogs on apples in August. A pig four nioinhs 

 old and weighing 95 pouiids, was fed 18 days as 

 follows : — first, two bushels of sour apples, 

 boiled with six quarts of oats and pea nneal, weigh- 

 ing four and a half pounds were given him. At 

 .the end of six days he had gained six ])Ounds. — 

 He was then kept six days on the saitie quantity 

 of boiled sweet apples and meal, at tlie einl of 

 which time lie had gained six pounds more. He 

 was next fed on an equal quantity of boiled pota- 

 toes and meal, and at the eiul of six days he had 

 gained only five pounds. Here the superiority of 

 botk sweet and sour apples over potatoes was 

 decisively shown. 



A correspondent of this paper at Lockport, in 

 a conin lunication last winter, states that he shut 

 •up seven hogs about foiu-teen months old on the 

 £x'6l cjf October; they were in poor condition, 

 and estimated to weigh about 150 lbs. each, and 

 worth in the market 1'2 1-2 cents per i)oimd. — 

 They wei'e fed fitly days on apples, mostly sour, 

 boiled with a small quantity of water, witii the 

 addition ef a bushel ol bran aud a pint of salt, to 

 three bushels of ajiples. At the end of fifiy 

 days they were fed with twelve and a half bush- 

 els of soft corn in the ear, andafterw: rds slaugh- 

 tered. The average weight of each was 272 

 pounds. Estimating the ajiples at 25 cents a 

 bushel, the bran at 6 cents, and c<irn at 62 1-2 

 cents, the whole expense was $77,55, and the 

 pork at $6,12 1-2 per cwt. .'^116, leaving a clear 

 pr( fit of $41,45. See whole experiment detailed, 

 in Genesee Farmer, current volume, p. 61. 



These experiments it will be observed, were 

 with cnoked apiiles. The practice has also suc- 

 ceeded when they have been fed in a raw state ; 

 though the latter is not as profitable, except on a 

 very small scale, when the trouble and expense I 

 of cooking would be comparatively greater. In 

 the following experiments, the a()[iles were given 

 uncooked. A correspondent in Onondaga comity 

 turned thirty hogs and from tiiirty to forty shoats 

 and pigs in an orchard of 400 trees about the 

 15th of September and they remained there until 

 the latter part of November when they were 

 slaughtered, with the exception of twelve dollars 

 worth sold alive, and about a dozen retained as 

 store pigs. They yielded about 5 450 lbs. of first 

 rate pork, fattened on apples whoKy, without any 

 grain. This was the fourth experiitient of the 

 kind made by the writer, all of which were at- 

 tended with complete sncceess. 



In the 5th volume, page 324, of the Genesee 

 Farmer, S. P. Rhoades of Skaneateles says, " A 

 frien<l from Massachusetts informs mo that he 

 shut up a hog by himself, and fed him entirely on 

 apples and water, last fall, and that he became 

 very fat, was well filled, and the pork was hard 

 and sweet as that fed on corn." He also states 

 that when turned into an orchard where there are 



both sweet and sour apples, hogs will eat about 1 execute ; but those who, like onr author, com- 



as much of one as of the other. 



In the Brattleborough Messenger, a correspon- 

 dent says, "A itian in Guilford, conversing on this 

 subject, said to me, 'There is a hog that will 

 weigh over two hundred ; I brought him home 

 in July on my back. I have given it nothing but 

 apples, and a little slop fur <lrink." 



Secoriilty, with regard to the cheapness of this 

 kimi of ftiod. This may perhaps be best deter- 

 mined by calculation. We will suppose that an 

 orchard is planted on au acre of ground, and that 

 the trees stand at a distance of twenty five feet 

 asunder, which would not be loo near when they 

 are merely intended for this [lurpose. 1 bis would 

 give about seventy Irees to the acre, 'j'be trees at 

 twenty five cents each would cost $18,75; and 

 the expense >d' planting, supposing each tree to 

 co.^t ten cents each, would be 7 dollars. While 

 the trees aie suiall, the land may be tilled and will 

 produce as nuicli as before ; anil from the lime 

 they begin to bear, they may be considered as 

 pajiiig for the ground they occupy, by their fruit. 

 Such an orchard, therefore, in a good bearing 

 state, would co.st as follows: 



One acre of land $50 00 



Seventy trees, 18 75 



riantin'g, 7 00 



$76 T5 

 The annual interest on this sum at seven per 

 cent, would be $5,30, which wouhl be the actual 

 expense of each crop, as the pastuie of the ground 

 would i-ay for gathering. If each tree bears on 

 au average Ave bushels a year, (this is low esti- 

 mnle if the most jirodiictive varieties are selected,) 

 the annual crop would be three hundred and fifty 

 bushels, which according to the preceding calcu- 

 lation would be at the rate of one cent and a half 

 a bushel. Estimating the cost at double this, the 

 clear profit in the second experiment before stated, 

 instead of being $il,45, wouhl actually be $74,45. 



One of our neighbors, last year, luade forty 

 dollars frtuu a small orchard of about an acre, by 

 fattening hogs, and reserved a large supply for 

 winter and other use. 



If instead of feetling potatoes to their hogs, 

 farmers would sell their jiotatoes, and purchase 

 apples for this purpose, they w.ould find it to their 

 advantage. In ordinary seasons, apples suitable 

 for feeding may be had at one quarter the price 

 ol potatoes, or even less, and their superior value 

 has been already shown. It would be far prefer- 

 able, however, if they would raise their own 

 apples, of kinds expressly for this purj ose. — Gtn- 

 esee Farmer. 



Silk Cdltuhf.. — We have received from Mr 

 Kenrick of Newton, the indefatigable student of 

 vegetable nature, his annual "catalogue of fruit 

 and hardy ornameital trees, shrubs, herbaceous 

 plants, &c." cultivated at the extensive and well 

 known nmsery of Nonantum Hill. To this pub- 

 lication is appended a most interesting and valua- 

 ble meiuoir on the culture of Silk, ami the treat- 

 ment of the iMulberry — a [taper which recom- 

 mends itself to the attention of every friend of 

 Home Industry, and deserves circulation through 

 the country. Such men as Kenrick are the real 

 benefactors of our race. Theorists may think and 

 elucidate — practical men may experiment and 



bine both characters, atl.rding example as well as 

 precept, are the teachers to whom their fellow men 

 may most ctmfideutly look for profitable instruc- 

 tion. The little treatise before us, com|aising less 

 than a dozen duodecimo pages, is stored with 

 information worth millions of money to the 

 American people. It is a remarkably lucid expo- 

 sition of tlie whole phenomena of the Silk mys- 

 tery and in a form as concise as its style is 



clear and attractive. Were we not apprehensive 

 of infringing on the courtesies -f authorship, we 

 should t'orthwith commence transferring these 

 pages to our columns. At all events, we shall 

 have occasion freipieutly to refer to its iletails 

 and directions ; and with leave of Mr K. will 

 hereafter republish the whole. Meantime we 

 cannot forego the gratification of copying the few 

 paragraphs subjoined, being the closing portion of 

 the work : 



"The value of silks imported into the United 

 States, during the year ending Sept. 30, 1835, as 

 stated on the authority of the Hon. William Jack- 

 son, member of Congress from Massachusetts, 

 amounted to $16,497,980, this being the original 

 or first cost in the foreign country. Dtiring this 

 period only $486,572 worth of this great amount 

 was exported ; and the actual cost of the above 

 to the .\merican j eoidi', or the whole retail cost 

 to the actual consumer, may be fairly estimated at 

 more than $22,000,000 for the year. Most of all 

 this was imported from Italy, Switzerland, and 

 from France: formerly half our imports were 

 from China. Yet neither the articles of raw silk, 

 nor any of those numerous, substantial and ele- 

 gant fabrics, which are composed <d" part silk and 

 part cotton, or of mixtures ol silk and worsted 

 are included in the above amount. And the de- 

 mand for silks which is now so great, is contin- 

 ually increasing. Not half this amoimt was con- 

 Slimed six years ago ; and since 1821, and durnig 

 fifteen years, the annual amount of silks consum- 

 ed has doubled twice. 



Silk is believed to be eminently adapted to the 

 soil and climate of every division of this great 

 republic ; our serene atmosphere is pecidiarly fa- 

 vorable to its growth, and the prolonged and vig- 

 orous state of vegetation during our summers. 

 The genial climate for silk is ours, and the highly 

 favored soil of one whole continent of the great 

 western world, which, by an especial providence, 

 with the exception only of Mexico, has fallen to 

 our share and is ours exclusively. 



Our advantages are indeed lery great — to be 

 duly appreciated, tli':-y must be estimated singly 

 and individually ; how nuich greater and more 

 striking will they then appear, if considered col- 

 lectively — om- iniuitncrable rivers and rapid 

 streams, oin- immense forests and mines, the ex- 

 baustless treasures of fuel and of flame, the com- 

 bined elements of water, earth, of fire, and of 

 inighty power, await — offering resources un- 

 known and immeasurable, and willing aids in 

 abridging the labors of man. 



History will record to endless reinettibranre 

 the names of those illustrious individuals who 

 have persevered as the faithlul guides aud pioneers 

 in the great work — those who by their example 

 or writing* have served as lights, to illumine our 

 way, and to cheer us through the long, diuk and 

 dreary night. 



Hope dawns auspicious, the day and its bright- 

 ness will be ours : ciulowed as are our people 



