AN ESSAY ON FAT AND MUSCLE. 
679 
nutritious matters — more so, we believe, than any other; the 
consequence of difference of soil and methods adopted in saving. 
In the blades and stems of the young grasses there is much sugar, 
which, as they grow up, is gradually changed, first into starch, and 
then into woody fibre ; and the more completely the latter change 
is effected, the riper the plant becomes, and consequently the less 
soluble are the substances it contains. Both theory and experience, 
then, indicate to the farmer the necessity of cutting his hay before 
it has attained its full stage of ripeness. It is also very probable 
that, when exposed to dry in the sun and air after being cut, to a 
certain extent this change from starch to woody fibre takes place. 
Hence the more quickly the drying is effected, the less extensively 
will changes of this kind take place ; and this shews the necessity 
of the hay being frequently turned during “ saving,” and being 
rapidly dried. 
Great quantities of bean-meal are used in some districts in the 
feeding of bacon-hogs, but it is found to make the flesh too firm 
for delicate porkers, and in the last stage of their fattening barley- 
meal is substituted. The best kind of food for feeding pigs is a 
mixture of barley-meal, peas, and potatoes. Potatoes are frequently 
used by themselves for this purpose ; but neither the fat nor muscle 
of pigs fed in this manner can be compared to corn and peas-fed 
pork — the fat having a tallowy appearance, and both fat and muscle 
shrinking, for want of firmness, when boiled. Potatoes will do very 
well for store pigs, but should never be depended on for the 
“ feeding.” Some feeders reject the grey pea, from an idea that 
it partakes in a degree of the nature of the bean in rendering the 
meat tough and hard. The same effect is produced, although in 
a more considerable degree, in the feeding of pigs on the acorn, 
which tends to render the meat firm and hard. This is owing to 
the astringent or tannin principle contained in the bean and acorn : 
vegetable astringents of all kinds are found to contract the mus- 
cular and vascular tissues, to diminish secretion, lessen irritability, 
and in many instances to impart strength or increased tone to an 
organ or part. It is the tannin principle contained in beans which 
renders them so valuable a food for hard-working horses. The 
nutritious elements of beans and peas are nearly the same, yet the 
former add more materially to the vigour of horses than the latter. 
Our Saxon ancestors used to feed their swine on acorns, and set 
great value on them for this purpose ; and round the forests of 
England it is still customary to drive the pigs in at the proper 
season, that they may feed on the acorns and the various kernels 
which fall from the trees. In Westphalia, the pig is turned into 
the oak forest as soon as he is weaned, where he feeds, like the 
wild boar, upon acorns and roots of various vegetables : the con- 
