302 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



Oct 



opinion that they need not expect annual fleeces 

 from the Cashmere goat of five or six pounds per 

 animal, which could be sold for $8 per pound, and 

 manufactured into genuine Cashmere shawls. I 

 have no doubt their flesh is good to eat, and that 

 their fleeces can in course of time — when we get 

 proper machinery, and there are goats enough to 

 supply manufacturers — be manufactured into De- 

 Laines, Chaileys, and other textile fabrics of the 

 same description, for which Cotswold, Leicester 

 and other long combing wools are used. 



John H. Klippart, 

 In the Ohiih Farmer. 



The Hog and its Pood. 



A correspondent of the American Stock Journal 

 says the propensity to acquire fat in many animals 

 seems to have been implanted by nature, as a 

 means of protecting them against certain vicissi- 

 tudes to which they might be exposed. The hog 

 fattens most rapidly in such a state of atmosphere 

 as is most congenial to her comfort — not too hot 

 nor 100 cold. Hence, the months of September, 

 October and November are the best for making 

 pork. The more agreeable the weather the less 

 less is the amount of food required to supply the 

 waste of life. It has been found by experiment 

 that a field of red clover is the best and cheapest 

 place to keep hogs in during spring and summer 

 months, where they can have plenty of water, and 

 the slop from the house, and the sour milk from 

 the dairy. All sour food contains more nitrogen 

 than when fed in a sweet state. The first green 

 herbage of the spring works off the impurities of 

 the blood, cleanses the system, renovates the con- 

 stitution and enables the animal to accumulate 

 a store of strength to carry it forward in its des- 

 tined course. A small patch of oats or peas to 

 turn into when the clover lails, is good. Some ob- 

 ject to fattening hogs so early in the season; the 

 Indian corn depended upon for the purpose, not 

 being iDatured. Taking all thuij;s into cousidera- 

 ation it is better to feed corn before it is ripe, as in 

 that state it possesses considerable sweetness,"iind 

 most varieties are in milk by the first of Septem- 

 ber, the hogs will chew it, swallow the juice and 

 eject the dry, fibrous matter. At this season of 

 the year swine can be fed on articles not readily 

 marketable, as imperfect fruit, vegetables, &c. 

 When such articles are used, cooking them is 

 gencrall economical. Pumpkins, squashes, apples 

 and potatoes, boiled or steamed, mixed with o»e- 

 eightli part in bulk with mill-feed or meal, whey, 

 and milk left to sour, will fatten hogs fast. In 

 this state they will eat it with avidity and deriv« 

 more benefit from it than when fed in an unfermen- 

 ted state. Articles that are of a perishable nature 

 should be used first, to prevent waste, as it is de- 

 sirable to turn all the products of the farm to the 



best account. Another quite important advantage 

 of early feeding is, the less trouble in cooking the 

 food and keeping it in proper condition to feed 

 out. The convenience of feeding is promoted as 

 there is no expense or trouble to guard against 

 freezing. 



The more -you can mix the food the better, as 

 they will thrive faster on mixed food than when 

 fed separately. In feeding, no more should be giv- 

 en at a time than will be ^'eaten up clean," and the 

 feeding should be done regularly as to time. It is 

 of the greatest importance to get the bestjvarieties 

 those that are w ell formed ; that have an aptitude 

 to take on fat readily, and consume the least food. 

 As to which is the best kind, there seems to be a 

 great diversity of opinion, some preferring one 

 kind and some another. The Sufi'olks come to ma- 

 turity earliest, and probably, are the most profita- 

 ble to kill at from seven to ten months, but I pre- 

 fer the Berkshire to any I have ever kept. A cross 

 of the two make good feeders, and the pork is ex- 

 cellent, they will usually weigh from 250 to 800 

 pounds, at the age of from seven to ten months. 

 The better way is to have pigs dropped about the 

 first o£ April, and feed well until December and 

 butcher. From a variety of experiments I am sat- 

 isfied that it is wrong to let hogs remain poor for 

 twelve months of its life, when it coiUd be made as 

 large in nine months as it gwierally is at fifteen 

 months. And I conceive it a great error with our 

 western farmers to feed their corn to hogs without 

 grinding. If pigs are kept well three months afte 

 being dropped, they cannot be stunted after that 

 even if the feed is cut short. It is now the opinion 

 of our good practical farmers, that feeding apples 

 to swine is profitable, and that there is no crop 

 that pays better according to its cost, being fully 

 equal to potatoes by mhasHre, while the expense is 

 not more than three to four cents per bushel. They 

 are better to feed to stock hogs in a raw state than 

 potatoes', indeed, from my own experience, I have 

 found but little benefit in cooking apples for swine. 

 It is desirable that hogs should be provided with a 

 dry floor for eating and sleeping only, the whole 

 pen completely sheltered from the atmosphere, to 

 save any washing or waste of manure. One other 

 suggestion, and I have done : every farmer should 

 see that the commonwealth of the piggery is furn- 

 ished with plenty of straw, potatoe vines, leaves, 

 saw-dust and the lik«, with an occasional load of 

 muck, and almost any quantity of weeds, pea and 

 buckwheat straw, all of which will be converted 

 into the most efficient support of vegetable life. 

 Hogs are the best composters known, as they de- 

 light in upturning any such articles as the farmer 

 wishes to convert into manure for the coming year. 



