143 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[May, 
facture, if lie knew it cost a cent or two a pound 
more than the prime pork of the market. We 
have occasionally had to fall hack on the mar¬ 
ket, with such unfortunate experience, that we 
were inclined to believe the stories about the un¬ 
wholesomeness of swine’s flesh. The pork of 
the West, fattened wholly, or in part, upon 
mast, is certainly a very different article from 
that made in a clean stye, upon nicely cooked 
Indian meal, with the slops of the house for a 
condiment and change of diet. This, according 
to the writer’s experience, is always a wholesome 
article of diet, and almost indispensable in house¬ 
keeping. It always swells in the pot, and cooks 
to advantage. What were baked beans, or the 
imperial dish of succotash, without the piece of 
fat pork, unstreaked with lean? Your boiled 
chicken, or mutton leg, were vanity without 
this accompaniment. He who has not eaten 
pan flsh, fresh from the sea, seasoned with slices 
from the pork barrel, has never eaten fish in 
their perfection. 
The family pig pays his way as well as any 
other animal about the house, and is a neces¬ 
sary link in economical house-keeping. He 
saves all the wastes of the table, and turns them 
into nice lard, and clean cuts of ham better 
than any sugar-cured article from Cincinnati. 
The housewife, or cook, however wise or pru¬ 
dent, must have some waste potatoes, bread, 
pudding, corn cakes, and griddles, in imminent 
peril of spoiling. Piggy saves them all as care¬ 
fully as if they were sixpences. 
Then he is an industrious manufacturer, turn¬ 
ing every sod and weed thrown in the stye into 
gold. Give him the material, and he will make 
at least ten dollars’ worth of manure in the 
course of the season. With plenty of manure, 
there is almost no end to the luxuries you can 
conjure from the little homestead of an acre. 
To say nothing of a dozen kinds of vegetables, 
the year round, there are nice dishes of straw¬ 
berries, raspberries, and the smaller fruits in 
Summer ; grapes, pears, peaches, and plums in 
Autumn; and apples for Winter. These all spring 
from the contents of the stye, and manure can 
be made cheaper there than it can be purchased. 
In May, villagers usually select pigs, and put 
them up to fatten. It is a question whether 
Fall or Spring pigs are the best for this pur¬ 
pose. Pigs eight weeks old in May, with good 
care, will each make from 250 to 300 lbs. of 
pork by Christmas. Wintered pigs, weighing a 
hundred, live weight, ought to make from four 
to five hundred pounds of pork each by the 
same time. They are the more economical, but 
the pork is not quite so delicate, and there is a 
little more difficulty in curing the hams. With 
good management, we can make pork from 
either, for less than five cents a pound. * 
Pigs more Profitable than Calves. 
* , _ 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist.. 
Early in April last year, I purchased 13 pigs, 
4 or 5 weeks old, which were kept until October. 
I also raised fi calves ; and I send herewith an 
account of the manner of feeding them, and the 
results. When the calves were a week old, they 
were fed with skimmed milk, mixed with a lit¬ 
tle shorts, middlings, and poor wheat ground 
but not bolted, which is excellent for them. 
The ground feed was introduced gradually, 
commencing with a tablespoonful each, and 
increasing the quantity as they grew older. If 
fed too freely at first, it is apt to scour them, 
in which case the feed must be lightened until 
they are all right again. The litter in their pen 
was changed every few days, for they should 
be kept dry and clean. I gave them fine soft 
hay once or twice a day until turned out into a 
field where the grass had a good start. Each 
calf was fed separately, as some eat faster than 
others, and would get more than their share if 
the milk were put in a common trough. When 
about three months old, a trough was placed 
near where they had been fed with milk, and 
bran or shorts was given once a day. The 
quantity was increased when the milk feed was 
stopped. The calves were red, Devon grades. 
They were in good condition, and were worth 
on the first of October from $6.50 to $7 each. I 
offered to sell them at the latter price, but found 
no purchaser. 
The pigs were fed all the sour milk they would 
eat, mixed with a little meal, the quantity being 
increased as they grew larger. They had the 
range of the orchard until sold, which was on 
the first of October. They averaged 200 lbs. 
each, gross weight; and readily brought 5 cents 
per lb. or $10 each, except three which were 
kept until December, and weighed when dressed, 
265, 251 and 230 lbs. respectively. I paid $2 
each for the pigs in the Spring, and therefore 
received $8 for the milk and meal fed to each 
one. The cost of the meal given to them was 
a little more than of the shorts, etc., fed to the 
calves, and the trouble of feeding the pigs was 
much less. I therefore conclude that when pigs 
will sell for $4.50 to $5 per cwt. gross, they are 
more profitable than calves. G. W. B. 
---- ■«— — ---- 
For the American Agriculturist . 
Poultry Raising—Black Spanish Fowls— 
Cracked Corn for Food. 
I commenced keeping poultry three years since, 
by purchasing seven hens of mixed breed, and 
had the usual success with them. Not being 
fully satisfied with the result, I last year bought 
a pair of pure blood black Spanish fowls, and 
set every egg the hen could be induced to lay, 
using for nurses other liens of a less valuable 
sort. When possible, I set two hens at the same 
time, and turned the broods together after hatch¬ 
ing. In this way I secured some fine broods of 
chickens, in my opinion the most graceful crea¬ 
tures that ever walked in a poultry yard. These 
were fed during infancy upon corn just cracked 
in a large coffee mill kept for the purpose, and 
every one was raised without any trouble. If 
this rule of feeding were invariably adopted, the 
disease called gapes, would not be known. At 
any rate, I have never had a case of that fell de¬ 
stroyer of chiekenhood, since using this kind of 
food. The same food is equally good for ducks, 
and I believe for all poultry. When food is 
ground very fine, it produces derangement of 
the functions. 
As soon as the chickens would swallow whole 
corn they were fed upon that, and since Feb. 
lllh, they have well repaid my care, with abun¬ 
dance of eggs of the most delicate flavor; for 
these eggs have a peculiar richness, superior to 
those of larger, coarser varieties of fowls. 
My experience with the black Spanish hen has 
been, that she does not want to sit so often as the 
common kind, nor is she so tenacious of the idea 
when once possessed of it; one or two days con¬ 
finement are usually enough to cure her. 
In fine, I have proved to my own satisfaction, 
that hens of a good variety, not too old , can be 
kept to advantage, if properly housed, and fed 
on an abundance of wholesome food, such as 
corn, sunflower sc ’ds, scraps of meat, boiled po¬ 
tatoes, etc.; without putting peppercorns into 
their crops, or dosing with sulphur, cayenne, or 
any thing of the kind. L. B. R. 
Eagleswoodj N. J. 
--—-- 
About Turkeys. 
Who that has any savory recollections of last 
Thanksgiving Day, or of Christmas, and who 
that knows what large profits can be made out 
of these birds, does not wish to try his hand at 
raising a brood or two this Summer ? Here 
are a few suggestions on the subject: 
Experienced breeders insist that for raising 
good healthy broods, an old turkey is much bet¬ 
ter than a young one. A bird does not arrive 
at full maturity until from two to three years 
old. Audubon, the great American Naturalist, 
says: “ The third year, the male turkey may 
be said to be an adult, although it increases in 
weight and size for several years more. The 
females at the age of four, are in full beauty.” 
It is well known that when farmers have killed 
off their old birds, and raised their broods suc¬ 
cessively from young gobblers and pullets, 
the progeny has grown smaller every year. 
Chicks so raised are tenderer, and more likely 
to die off from cold and exposure. Hence the 
frequent remark from sagacious breeders, that 
you might as well think of improving your flock 
of sheep by breeding them from lambs, instead 
of vigorous, mature sheep. As a general rule, 
the cock and hen should be three years old and 
upward, and the two of different breeds. Every 
year, the earliest hatched, most vigorous, and 
best formed young birds should be selected for 
future breeders, and the others killed off when 
wanted. 
During the Fall and Winter, turkeys need 
only moderate feeding, but as Spring opens, let 
the amount be increased, especially during lay¬ 
ing time. Considerable pains should be taken 
at this last period, to tame them. After they have 
laid their first litter—say fifteen to twenty five 
eggs—break up their nests, but do it without their 
knowledge. Continue to feed and cosset them, 
and in a fortnight’s time, they will begin to lay 
again. It is thought a good practice to turn 
over the eggs once or twice a week. When they 
have laid their second nest full, and show a dis¬ 
position to set, let them do so. Put their first 
lot of eggs under a common hen, at the same 
time; and when they are hatched, give the 
chicks to the turkey-mother, who will take care 
of both broods. The turkeys should be hatched 
by the middle of June, or first of July, at the 
latest, so as to have them pretty strong before 
frosty weather sets in. 
Considerable pains will need to be taken with 
the young broods. At first, they should be kept 
in a shed, or on a barn floor, where they will be 
warm and dry. For the first few days, give 
them hard boiled eggs grated fine. Then add 
to the eggs, some curd of sour milk. Then, after¬ 
ward, for variety, feed a little stale bread crumbs. 
When they are a month old, give them Indian 
meal mixed with warm water. Set pans of sour 
milk where they can get a daily sip, if they like. 
Until they are ten days old, they should be 
housed at night, and let out during the day. 
When about a fortnight old, if the weather is 
then warm and settled, it is au excellent plan to 
make a large pen, a rod square, of boards six¬ 
teen inches wide, and keep the brood in that un¬ 
til they are able to fly over it. After that, they 
will take care of themselves, only they should 
be fed once a day to keep them from roving too 
far and too long from home. 
