DOMESTICATED MAMMALS OP THE FARM 109 



raising pigs than by raising sheep or cattle. In our late Civil 

 War, hogs early became the main reliance for meat supply for 



the soldiers on both sides. 

 The quantity of pork in the 

 country at any given time may, 

 by raising hogs, be doubled in 

 eighteen months. Hogs are 



Fig. 52. A quick-growing meat supply. ** . « . - 



well nigh omnivorous and are 

 gifted by nature with a keen sense of smell, with the aid of 

 which they are able to find food that cattle and horses waste. 

 So they are usually allowed to run after cattle to convert the 

 waste into pork. The pig is not naturally a very dirty animal , 

 when given a chance to be clean, nor is he hopelessly stupid. 

 He can be taught more tricks than many animals that have a 

 higher reputation for cleverness. His manners, however, are 

 bad. 



These five animals, dog, horse, ox, sheep and pig are as yet 

 our main dependence. There are others more or less widely 

 kept, like the cat and the ass and the goat and the rabbit; 

 but these five are most necessary to us. These illustrate well 

 the phenomena of domestication: the many different pur- 

 poses served by different beasts, the great differences among 

 them in size, in strength, in speed, in habits, in disposition, 

 and in products. We do not treat any two kinds of them 

 alike, nor in speaking to them, do we use the same words. 



They have affected our sympathies and our habits, enriched 

 our language, and conditioned our progress. How individual 

 they are: how well known and characteristic are their 

 voices. Dogs bark and whine and howl: cats purr and 

 mew and yowl: horses whinny and neigh: bulls bellow 

 and cows bawl : pigs grunt and squeal : sheep bleat : don- 

 keys bray. How characteristic their actions are, also. They 

 furnish our most graphic figures of speech. Often in politics 

 or in business we hear men accused of shying, of balking, of 



