^OI,. XVII. NO. ar. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



213 



uch loads, which after using all I want, find a 

 eady sale among the market gardeners in my neigh- 

 orhood at 3 dollars per load, they taking it away 

 Fith their own teams. 



This manure is without any mixture of pond 

 nud, sods, &c. which, had I access to such materi- 

 •Is, might be very profitably increased. 



As it respects steaming, instead of boiling veg- 

 ■tables, the only expense saved is fuel, for the 

 ;amc labor is necessary in filling and discharging 

 hem. Our laboring people require to have their 

 vork simplified as much as possible, and their 

 udgment not often called into exercise. Were I 

 tell my man to steam 18 bushels of vegetables, 

 ind to give one-third of them 3 times a day to the 

 itock, the consequence would he, that a much 

 Tteater quantity would be given at one time than 

 mother, and though the whole would be consumed 

 n the course of the day, still the inequality of 

 'eeding would be hurtful. Besides in winter, par- 

 .icularly the swill, must be very warm, which could 

 lot be at night with vegetables steamed in the 

 norning. Upon the whole therefore, I prefer to 

 say to him, " fill the kettle with vegetables, and 

 ifter they are boiled away sufficiently to make 

 •com, put in one bushel of cracked corn and oats, 

 ind give the wliole for breakfast," tluis making out 

 he exact lino of duty, and leaving nothing to his 

 iiecretion. 



I give the swill warm in summer, and almost hot 

 n winter, and always sweet and fresh. In conver- 

 sation with Dr. Derby, he argued upon tlie proprie- 

 ty of feeding with sour food, and that cold. I 

 (lave formerly tried it and satisfied myself it was 

 wrong. Pigs may be habituated to eat it ; but place 

 this cold stuff' in a trough, and a good smoking 

 lot breakfast of mine in another beside it, and 

 [ will venture to say, they will soon show a prefer- 

 ence. 



I never spay sows, because ivc have no one who 

 knows the mode, which is to be regretted. They 

 are sometimes admitted to the boar a few weeks 

 before killing. 



In yours received yesterday, through Wells ahd 

 Lilly, you ask my opinion of the Byfield breed of 

 hogs. As breeders they are tlie worst I know. 

 The sows have small litters and destroy tliem often- 

 times by laying down without any care. They are 

 long coarse haired animals and very apt to be 

 mangy, nevertheless to mix with almost any other 

 breed, a Byfield boar is valuable, being a quiet 

 race and disposed to get fat at an early age. ' 



The Bedford is a hardier kind, and make good 

 nurses. But for our uses have too much lean meat 

 in proportion to their fat — their hams from that cir- 

 cumstance are excellent — a cross between a Byfield 

 boar, and a Bedford sow furnishes a profitable and 

 handsome stock. 



Inclosed is a sketch of my piggery. I thought 

 it might assist you in determining the mode of 

 building yours — I find mine convenient, and know 

 not, that I could alter it advantageously. 



I have thus, my dear sir, atrempted to give a 

 comprehensive answer to your interrogatories ; if 

 there is yet anything not perfectly clear to you I 

 shall be happy to explain. 



My letter has run on to a great length, but your 

 politeness, I trust, will excuse it. 

 Your obedient 



Humble servant, 

 NATHANIEL INGERSOLL. 



J. S. Ski.nner, Esq. 



EXPLANATION. 



1. Boilers. 



2. Swill Trough. 



3. Vegetable Bin. 



^. Boiling House and Vegetable Bin. 



5. Passage to feed. 



6. Small pens for sows to pig in, in cold weather. 



7. Passage to feed. 



8. Grain Bin. ^ 



9. Outside pens for sows — 4 feet by 7 1-2. 



10. Inside pens for s^s — 7 1-2 feet long by 5 

 wide. 



11. Inside pens for store pigs — 6 feet square. 



12. Outside pens for store pigs — 4 feet by 6. 



a. Troughs. 



b. Door. 



c. Trough Door. 



Outside 

 pen, drip 

 1 inch in 

 a foot. 



Outside 

 Pens. 



I have found it necessary to have communication 

 with all the pens, from the principal inside passages 



for the facility of moving the sows and store pigs, 

 because outside doors are apt to be frozen down in 

 winter. The spaces at the ends of the troughs, 

 are therefore sliding doors, as all others are. The 

 4 pens near the boiling house, are made tight with 

 covers, for sows to farrow, in very severe weather. 

 The hogs are all fed from the common passage un- 

 der cover. They eat more comfortable, and the 

 troughs are never filled up with rain or snow. The 

 outside pens of the sows, when they have pigs, are 

 cleared into a cart, and the manure carted away, 

 that the yard for sucking pigs, may always be 

 clean — and where they will soon learn to eat 

 whole corn, if placed in shallow troughs. They 

 have holes sufficiently large for them to run out 

 of. 



Since you were here, I have been obliged to 

 new lay the floor of my piggery, and have now ar- 

 ranged the pens conformable to the above sketch. 

 I have also dug a well in the boiling house, and 

 have the nose of the pump placed high enough to 

 carry water into the kettles. Should my spring 

 fail, I shall by spouts, conduct the water that falls 

 in rain upon the building, into the well. My fat- 

 ting hogs, you will recollect, are fed upon the bara 

 floor, and cleaned into the cellar, where the sows 

 run before they pig. 



" Won't you write some lines on me ?" said a. 

 scofier to a roguish poet. " Certainly, sir," answer- 

 ed the other with a polite bow. As soon as the 

 other's back was turned, he chalked the word 

 " sheep stealer," between his shoulders. 



