Rearing and Fattening oe Pigs. 



i i 



varying opportunities. These last are of many kinds. The 

 pig-keeper may be in a district where weanling pigs are m 

 very great demand, as, for instance, where many miners live, 

 or in a district where a considerable amount of butter or cheese 

 is made ; in such cases it may prove to be more profitable to sell 

 out the little pigs when they are ready to be weaned, as at no other 

 time will they have paid the breeder better. Then some persons 

 may be able to obtain at little expense a good grass run for their 

 sows, or, if near a town or houses, where extensive establishments 

 are kept up, a considerable quantity of kitchen refuse can be 

 obtained cheaply, all of which will enable the pig-keeper to run 

 his sows on at little expense between each farrowing on food 

 which is not so suitable for young pigs. For the keeping of sows 

 and the sale of the little pigs as weaners fewer premises are 

 required than for the breeding and fatting the pigs. Less capital 

 is also needed, and the sows need less attention save when the 

 young pigs are about to arrive, and for three or four weeks subse- 

 quent to their arrival. On the other hand, breeding sows kept for 

 selling the young pigs as weaners are not of much benefit as 

 manure manufacturers to those who own or occupy land in the 

 form of large garden, allotment, orchard or farm. For orchards 

 especially is it desirable to fatten pigs so that the resulting 

 manure can be utilised to enrich the soil on which the fruit trees 

 are grown. In Kent and other counties where fruit culture is 

 general the occupiers are becoming alive to the manurial benefits 

 derivable from the consumption of corn by pigs in the orchards, as 

 not only can the pigs be made to pay well for the food consumed, 

 but the quantity of fruit is greatly increased and the size and 

 quality improved. In particularly drawing attention to the 

 greater use now made of pigs as improvers in orchards, I do not 

 intend to suggest that great benefits are not derivable by gar- 

 deners and allotment holders, and, indeed, by all those who occupy 

 land, as every one with experience will admit that the best and 

 most lasting stimulant to vegetable growth is manure made by 

 fatting pigs. Even persons who are not in the habit of keeping 

 pigs readily admit this fact, but they excuse themselves for neg- 

 lecting so good an opportunity on the ground that pigsties are so 

 offensive. To a very great extent this is mainly due to want of 

 care and cleanliness on the part of the persons in charge. A 



