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DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
be their weight and condition, yet, when slaughtered immediately, or 
before having several weeks of substantial food, to harden their flesh, 
they are always found inferior to corn-fed pork and bacon, the fat hav- 
ing a tallowy appearance, of an insipid taste, and shrinking for want of 
firmness ; whereas, when boiled, it should be transparently hard, with a 
tinge of pink in its color ; the flavor should be good, and the meat should 
swell in the pot. Potatoes, therefore, though fine food for stores, should 
never be used alone as sustenance in the fatting of bacon hogs ; for, in 
proportion to the quantity employed, it will render the flesh and conse- 
quently the price, inferior to that of hogs which have been properly 
fed. They are, however, frequently employed, when steamed, in con- 
junction with either tail or stained barley, coarsely ground; and farmers 
who grow, potatoes for the market may thus profitably dispose of the 
chats along with their unmarketable corn ; but those persons who wish 
to acquire a reputation for producing fine bacon, should never use any 
thing for fatting but hard meat, together with skim-milk, if it can be 
procured. 
When swine are not of very large size, and it is desirable to raise 
pork rather than bacon, a very economical mode of feeding may be 
advantageously employed : — it consists of equal parts of boiled Swedish 
turnips or potatoes, and bran. If it be desirable to render the accumu- 
lation of fat more rapid, let Indian meal be substituted for the bran, and 
in flax-growing countries, the seed prepared as already directed. 
A hog washed weekly with soap and a brush will be found to thrive, 
and put up flesh in a ratio of at least five to three, in comparison to a 
pig not so treated. This fact has been well tried, there can be no pos- 
sible question about its correctness, and the duty is not a very difficult 
matter to perform, for the swine, as soon as they discover the real char- 
acter of the operation, are far from being disposed to object, and after 
a couple of washings, submit with the best grace imaginable. 
Beware not to Surfeit your hogs. It is quite possible to give too 
much even to them, and to produce disease by over-feeding. 
Many examples of great weights, produced by judicious feeding and 
management, are upon record. Mr. Crockford’s Suffolk hog, at two 
years old, weighed nine hundred and eighty pounds; but I scarcely 
think it could have been true Suffolk, that being a small breed. Mr. 
Ivory’s Shropshire hog weighed fourteen hundred, when killed and 
dressed, and there was, a short time since, a specimen of the improved 
Irish breed of hog exhibited in Dublin, at the Portobello Gardens, which 
weighed upward of twelve hundred weight ; this, when killed, would 
have amounted to something over half a ton. 
In conclusion, observe caution in conjunction with the directions already 
given relative to feeding. 
1. Avoid foul feeding. 
2. Do not omit adding salt in moderate quantities to the mess 
given ; you will find your account in attending to this. 
3. Feed at regular intervals. 
4. Cleanse tiie troughs previous to feeding. 
5. Do not over-feed ; give only as much as will be consumed at 
the meal. 
