1862.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
297 
Above we present excellent portraits of two of 
the prize hogs, shown at the recent Exhibition 
of the Royal Agricultural Society in London. 
The one in the foreground is the Berkshire 
boar “Lablaclie,” the property of the late Sir 
Robert G. Throckmorton. All the good points 
of this excellent breed are well brought out. 
We see the small head and ear, the fine bone, 
compact carcass, and deep hams, which have so 
long made the Berksnires a favorite breed in 
England. In our country, of late years, the 
larger framed swine have attracted much at¬ 
tention. Their average weight may be great¬ 
er than that of the Berkshire?] but it may be 
doubted whether they will give a larger return 
of meat for the amount of food consumed. In 
this particular, the Berkshires stand very high. 
Specimens of great size have been raised. One 
is noted by Youatt, which measured seven feet 
seven inches from the tip of the snout to the 
root of the tail, and seven feet ten inches in girth 
round the center; five feet round the neck, and 
two feet across the widest part of the back. He 
stood three feet nine inches high; and what was 
most remarkable in this monstrous animal, he 
did not consume more than two bushels and 
three pecks of ground feed per week. Their or¬ 
dinary weight, however, averages from 250 to 
300 pounds. It is not always desirable that 
animals should attain such unwieldy propor¬ 
tions. For eating, the same amount of meat 
from two animals weighing 300 lbs. each, would 
be worth more than from a single one of double 
size, because the quality would be superior. 
The second portrait in the above engraving is 
of the sow named “Silverwing,” belonging to 
Mr. Wainman. She was the winner in the class 
of “ sows of small white breed.” 
Making Game of Chickens. 
It is generally known that the flavor of meat 
depends largely upon the kind of food on 
which the animal was fed before being killed. 
Fowls allowed to pick up their living from 
offal and filth yield flesh greatly inferior to that 
made from clean grain and other wholesome 
food. The spicy game flavor of partridges and 
other wild fowl is due to the aromatic nature of 
the berries and buds ou which they subsist. As 
it is easy to regulate the food of domestic fowls, 
it is worth experimenting upon whether any 
desired flavor can not be given to the meat. 
The Scottish Journal of Agriculture advances 
the opinion that this is possible. The chickens 
might not relish the food necessary to impart 
the flavor, but under the system of artificial 
feeding common in Europe this would be no 
hindrance. In France, fowls are fattened by 
pouring farinaceous food in a liquid state down 
their throats through a funnel made for the pur¬ 
pose, and it would be easy to impregnate the 
mixture with any oil or essence required. This 
would be necessary to be done for only a few 
days at the close of the fattening process, so 
that the health of the fowl need not be impaired. 
To Keep Ice Cheaply. 
A supply of ice to use through the heat of 
Summer contributes to profit as well as luxury, 
and a receptacle in which it may be kept is not 
necessarily expensive. The main essentials are: 
1st, an outside shell, with from eight to twelve 
inches of clean sawdust, or other dry porous 
material; 2nd, protection from the direct rays 
of the sun; and 3d, a pipe through which to 
drain off or pump out any water that may col¬ 
lect at the bottom. Ice has been kept through 
the season in an enclosure made by notching 
long rails and laying them up like the outer 
walls of a log-house, in a position entirely pro¬ 
tected from the sun. The ice was cut in large, 
solid blocks, packed closely, and water turned 
on to each layer and allowed to freeze solid. A 
space of ten or twelve inches between the ice 
and rails was filled with sawdust, and the whole 
was roofed with boards, with plenty of sawdust 
between the roof and ice. This was entirely 
above ground. Ice has also been kept in a sim¬ 
ilar structure one half underground. One who 
tried this four years failed at first because he 
used straw instead of . sawdust for filling in 
around the ice. When he relied upon six inch¬ 
es of sawdust he had perfect success. The walls 
of his ice-house were made by setting common 
studding upright and boarding up each side of 
the studs, filling the space between with saw¬ 
dust. Another has succeeded well by excavating 
—including the embankment made by the son 
tlu'own out—about twelve feet in depth, then 
laying up a stone wall, dry to the top of the 
ground, and in mortar the remaining distance 
to the top of the embankment, covering the 
whole with a good roof. All that is necessary 
to success in keeping ice is fully stated in the 
first part of this article, and each can best judge 
for himself as to what particular style of struc¬ 
ture will best suit his individual circumstances. 
Experiments in Rotting Flax. 
A Canadian gentleman, interested in flax-cul¬ 
ture, writes from London under date of July 17, 
as follows, relative to experiments in rotting flax: 
“ I wished particularly to ascertain the differ¬ 
ence in value between dew-rotted flax and that 
steeped in the ordinary manner in cold water— 
and I was shown the result of a most interesting 
experiment on this very subject, tried this year. 
Flax taken from one field was separated into 
three portions—(1) one of these was dew-rotted, 
according to the custom of the country where it 
was grown (the grower thinking the quality 
not good enough for any other system)—(2) the 
second was rotted in stagnant water in pits 
according to the custom in the North of Ire¬ 
land, and in many parts of Belgium—(3) and 
the third in running water, as practised in the 
river Lys at Courtrai. The last was the best 
flax when rotted, but the second was actually 
double the value of the dew-rotted flax. 
“ This circumstance should be known by our 
farmers, as the same crop may be made to yield 
a two-fold value according to the system of rot¬ 
ting practised; and in point or fact the steeping 
system—occupying only 6 or 8 days, is cheaper 
than dew-rotting, which occupies six weeks or 
two months, and must therefore require a great¬ 
er amount of supervision.” 
By the way, We hope some process will soon 
be discovered lor using flax for paper. The 
white paper on which the American Agriculturist 
is printed, contains a considerable amount of 
linen, in order to give it great strength for pres¬ 
ervation in book form, without increasing the 
weight and postage. This makes the paper 
much more expensive than that for common 
newspapers that are to be used once and then 
thrown aside. Such paper can be manufac¬ 
tured of old cotton rags, with a considerable ad¬ 
mixture of clay or plaster to give it thick¬ 
ness and weight without increasing the strength. 
