1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4r53 
the field, just as we do potatoes, only with far less 
care and labor. Last fall he bought half a 
dozen head of four-year-old steers, for $31 per 
head. He fed them hay and roots with a little 
pea and oat meal until March, and then sold 
them for $85 per head. The great point, he 
says, is to get well-bred, thrifty steers, and the 
falter they are the better. This is undoubtedly 
true, and it is also evident that he did well in 
fattening the cattle. But how is it about those 
who rear and feed well-bred cattle for four years 
and then sell them for $31 ? Here the butchers 
will often pay $15 for a well-bred calf, two 
mouths old. This would leave $16 for keeping a 
steer four years. Where does the profit come in '? 
A prominent "Western farmer writes me : 
" The ' Pig ' show at the Illinois State Fair was 
a big thing — over one thousand animals being 
on exhibition. The Berkshires were decidedly 
the best animals, and in fact the}' were the only 
ones that I thought desirable to breed. The 
Magee and Chesters were out in largo force, but 
they were too coarse, and moreover, lacked uni- 
formity." — I think this is the truth of the mat- 
ter. But it is useless to fight the large breeds; 
and for one I am glad to see them introduced 
all over the country. They are strong, vigor- 
ous hogs, and just the thing to cross with the 
fine, small-boned thorongh-breds. From what 
little I have seen ef them I would not accept a 
litter of Magee pigs, two months old, as a gift, 
if I was compelled to keep them to maturity, 
and then sell them for pork. I would like very 
well to buy a lot of these hogs at twenty months 
old, if in a thrifty condition, and shut them up 
to fatten ; just as I would like to buy some 
thrifty, four-year-old steers for $31 a head and 
' shut them up to fatten. But I would not like 
to keep a steer four years for $31 ; neither would 
I like to keep one of these large, coarse hogs 
for twenty months to make hini weigh 300 lbs,, 
worth at 7 cents per lb., $31. This is less than 
twenty-five cents a pound for his keep. But 
shut up such a hog and feed him all he will eat 
for four months and he will then weigh 500 lbs., 
and be worth $50 or more. This would pay the 
feeder very well, just as the steers did ; but how 
is it with the man who raises them ? Depend 
upon it, in raising animals for the butcher, early 
maturity is the first requisite. 
I say, for (he butcher, and it is important to 
bear this distinction in mind. If we kept a hog 
to do the churning, or a steer for the yoke, we 
should want tough muscles, just as we do in the 
case of horses. The oftener muscles are formed 
and transformed and formed again, the tougher 
and stronger they become, and it is for this rea- 
son that we require time and exercise. It will 
not do to force a horse or a working ox, when 
young, as we force an animal intended for the 
butcher. In the latter case we do not want any 
of the flesh we have laid on, to be transformed 
back again into blood, and be formed over again 
from the food ; and while we cannot entirely 
prevent this, we can lessen it as much as possi- 
ble by high feeding, and breeding for early ma- 
turity. But in horses our object is entirely dif- 
■ int. We must give more time and exercise 
for developing and strengthening the muscles. 
The year which is now rapidly coming to a 
close has not been a brilliant one to many of us 
agriculturally. Wheat, barley, and oats, in this 
neighborhood, were decidedly below an aver- 
age, and prices do not at all correspond with the 
falling off in the yield, nor with the price of ta- 
bor and other expenses. Hay is fully one-third 
less than last year, but the quality of the clover 
hay is veiy superior. Those who have timothy 
ha}- to sell will probably obtain a high price for 
it before spring— or rather before summer, for 
it should never be forgotten that in this latitude 
we have to fodder our stock nearly the whole 
of the spring months. Straw is light, but like 
the hay, the quality with us is far better than 
that of the rainy season of 1869 ; and for food, 
I think our crop of straw is worth more, though 
of far less bulk, than that of last year. We 
must make the best of it, by feeding it out in 
connection with grain. Straw and a little 
grain fed with judgment, will winter sheep and 
horses, and probably cows, though I am not so 
sure on that point, much more cheaply than 
hay alone, and the stock will do better. Pota- 
toes are a light crop, but prices are good. This 
is the best paying crop I have on in} 7 farm this 
year. Though like many others — scared at the 
difficulty and expense of getting them dug — I 
only planted about half the usual area. Corn 
is capital — with me, uever so good before in 
quantity and quality? And so of the stalks, but 
in this section we had seven continuous days of 
rain the early part of October, while the weath- 
er was very warm, and it seriously damaged the 
stalks. I managed, however, to get them all into 
the stacks in good order, and by thatching them 
with a little straw on the top I hope to make 
them go a good way towards carrying the cows 
through the winter months, and thus save the 
hay for the spring. Stalks are excellent food 
for cows, and if not husked clean, so much the 
better. If all the corn, however, is in the crib, 
shell it, and grind it and let the cows have a 
couple of quarts of meal a day, with or without 
some straw, and next spring or summer they will 
pay you a high price for it. Apples were an 
immense crop, and brought little more than the 
expense of picking, barreling, and drawing to 
market. I should not be surprised, however, if 
they bring a fair price in the spring. The win- 
ter fruit ripened two or three weeks earlier than 
usual, and the high wind of Oct. 17-18, blew 
off thousands of barrels. I doubt if more than 
half the crop finds its way to market. The low 
price will stimulate consumption, anft?by spring 
it may be found that notwithstanding the enor- 
mous crop we have no good apples to spare. 
The " pig " crop was a profitable one to those 
who fed their fall pigs liberally through the 
winter, and were not afraid of giving them, in 
addition to a good clover pasture, corn enough 
to keep them fat throughout the summer, and 
make them ripe for the butcher before cold 
weather set in. How it will be with the "hog" 
crop of the West, I cannot say; but if prices 
keep up, as I sincerely hope the)- may, the 
farmers in the great corn growing sections of 
the West must make a nice thing of it. 
Will pigs continue as scarce and high for a 
few years to come as for a few years past, is a 
question the Deacon and I often discuss. History 
says, "No." The Deacon says, " Yes." Thirty 
years ago there was as much excitement among 
pig breeders as there is now. But in two or 
three years the price of pork declined so low 
that a pair of Berkshire pigs, which, during the 
excitement, would have brought a dollar a 
pound, could hardly be given away. I heard 
of a Kentuckian who recently paid $500 in gold 
to a Canadian breeder, for a pair of Berkshires. 
From what I see and hear at the Fairs, I am 
inclined to tlKnk there Is as much jockeying in 
pigs as in horses. The hair on one of the pigs 
at the Canada Fair was said to have been dyed. 
The Deacon thinks there will be no serious 
break in the pork market now, because we have 
access to all the markets of the world, and 
American pork has an established reputation, 
which was formerly not the case. There is 
some truth in this, and yet I look for lower 
prices. One of the most embarrassing features 
of our agriculture is the general tendency to 
rush into one thing, to the exclusion of all oth- 
ers, because for the time being it happens to bo 
unusually profitable. We could raise double 
the number of pigs we do now without glutting 
the market, provided we adopt the Euglish sys- 
tem of selling a large proportion of them for 
fresh pork when about four months old. If the 
agricultural papers and the Department of Ag- 
riculture will keep us correctly informed of the 
number of pigs in the country, and if farmers 
would raise pigs that can be fattened at any age, 
we could easily prevent an excessive hog crop 
and a serious decline in prices, by killing out- 
pigs at four or five months old, and supplying 
the best butchers in the large cities with choice, 
fresh pork. Properly conducted no branch of 
farming will pa}' better than this. New York, 
Boston, and Philadelphia, will pay almost any 
price for choice meat. They are the best mar- 
kets in the world. The last time I was in New 
York, Col. Weld, of the Agriculturist, and my- 
self, spent some hours in Washington Market, 
and we did not see a single pig of the kind I 
am talking about — viz., a small-boned pig, not 
over four months old, that dresses 60 or 65 lbs. 
When once known, such pigs will be in demand 
at profitable prices. At present, we cannot 
afford to sell them at this age, because pigs are 
so scarce ; but as soon as we become in the least 
overstocked, we should know what to do with 
them. Let the West, with its cheap corn, raise 
large hogs for the pork barrels, if such are found 
the most profitable ; while we at the East should 
raise the fine-boned, early-maturing, small- 
breeds, to supply this demand for fresh pork. 
Of course, if not wanted for fresh pork, they 
can be kept until nine months or a year old, 
and they will then make the best of salt pork 
and hams, with lard of the choicest quality. 
The difference between the large and small 
breeds was well illustrated at the N. Y. State 
Fair. There was a large Magee hog, two years 
old, that weighed over 900 lbs., and in an ad- 
joining pen a full grown Essex that would 
weigh not over 450 lbs. There was also a. pen 
of Magee pigs, six months old, and in an adjoin- 
ing pen some pigs of about the same age, a cross 
between the Essex and Berkshire. These pigs, 
I think, would have dressed as much again as 
the Magees. In other words, at two years old, 
a Magee hog can be made to weigh as much 
again as an Essex of the same age ; but at six 
months old, the "small-breeds" will weigh 
more than the large breed. Or at any rate it 
was so in this case. And the proportion of 
bone and offal in the one was vastly greater 
than in the other. If both these lots of pigs 
had been killed at this age, the consumer could 
well afford to pay three cents a pound more for 
the large "small-breed" than for the small, 
half-fat, "large breed." 
Never ask what one of the mutton breeds of 
sheep will weigh at three years old, but what 
he will weigh at twelve or fifteen months; and 
so of cattle and pigs. There should be no ex- 
ception to this rule in all animals intended solely 
for the butcher, and more especially when they 
are to be kept on high-priced land. 
" Did I win the turkey f ■ Yes, the Deacon 
owned up that I beat him on corn this year. 
