January 11, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
41 
PIGS AMD BACON. 
Pia management at a home farm is altogether a matter of 
expediency, dependent upon the size of the farm as well as upon 
household requirements. If the family is in residence during 
the winter, porkers of 50 lbs. or 60 lbs. weight will be required 
for a supply of fresh pork which when fed upon milk thickened 
with ground Oats or Barley meal is delicious. But when the 
family is absent in the winter, then only enough bacon hogs will 
be required for curing to afford a supply of bacon and hams 
during spring, summer and autumn. This is a mere matter of 
detail, the number of pigs being easily increased or reduced as 
may be necessary, if only enough sows are kept at the farm. 
An extra sow or two is immaterial, as they “ pay for their keep ” 
and something more—it has been very much more for the last 
year; and if we take the average number of its two litters a year 
at fifteen, we shall find the profits derived from a sow bear 
favourable comparison with those of a cow. Where breeding 
and selection have attention, and sows are well cared for, the 
average might safely be placed at twenty. 
Well do we remember the time when it was everywhere 
customary for men and boys in charge of the farm horses to 
board and lodge with the bailiff, who used during winter to kill 
and salt enough pork to supply his table till the following 
Michaelmas. Fine fat hogs were they, weighing from 500 to 
600 lb?., but their day at the home farm has gone by ; porkers, 
and bacon hogs of about 300 lbs. weight are only required now. 
A middle white boar and compact sows of medium size, such as 
are to be found at most farms, give cross-bred pigs very suitable 
for the purpose. Stress is always placed upon the importance 
of a well bred male parent, and .iustly so. The term “profitable 
pigs ” is altogether comparative ; to render pigs really profitable 
every detail must have attention. It is not a question of the 
greater number; the most successful manager being he who 
breeds well, feeds well, and also takes care not to allow a sow to 
be burdened with more pigs than it can properly rear. It is often 
as desirable to knock one or two of an exceptionally large farrow 
on the head, as it is to get rid at once of any pigs very much 
undersized at birth. 
Under ordinary conditions the remainder thrive apace and 
come to hand quickly either as porkers or for bacon. It is with 
bacon hogs that we are now most concerned, because the regular 
annual supply is in course of preparation, one batch following 
another as fast as is convenient. We always give bacon and 
hams a month in pickle and a month in smoke, and we have 
ample reason to keep to this plan. No doubt it is obsolete, but 
the fact that home-cured bacon must be forthcoming from the 
home farm at any time of the year is our guide in curing, which 
is so well done that hams and bacon keep pei’fectly sweet, whole¬ 
some, and of fine flavour for a year. 
Bacon to be sold by the grocer and provision merchant is, on 
the contrary, cured, sold, and consumed with such despatch as is 
quite in keeping with the accelerated pace of the day. The 
bacon is palatable enough, but let the home farmer beware of 
the introduction of bacon factory curing at his farm. 
The green bacon of commerce is now ready for market in 
eight or nine days from the slaughtering of the pig, smoked 
bacon in less than a fortnight. This is rendered possible by a 
forcing or pumping of brine into the pores of the pork. This 
brine is made of 45 lbs. of salt, 4 lbs. of food pi’eservative, 3 lbs- 
of Cane sugar, 2 lbs. of saltpetre, 4 lb. of sal prunella, and 
20 gallons of water. After the pumping the flitches are sprinkled 
over with a mixture of food preservative and saltpetre in equal 
parts, then rubbed with finely powdered salt, and so left in stacks 
for three days, when the stacks are turned, the salt rubbing 
repeatel, and in a few more days is ready either for sale as green 
Dacon or for two days in the smoking house. The brine may be 
used for any bacon if cai'e is taken to test it with the salino- 
meter, and to use it at a strength of 90°. Oak sawdust is used 
for the smoking, and it is occasionally sprinkled with Juniper 
berries to improve the flavour. 
For the hams we altogether prefer the recipe which we have 
used for so many years, and which imparts a delicious flavour, 
far superior to that of any ham which can be bought. Old 
readers of the Journal are familiar with it; here it is for new 
ones: For a ham of 20 lbs.—2 lbs. of salt, 3 ozs. saltpetre, 
3 ozs. bay salt, 3 ozs. Shallots, 1 oz. Coriander seed, 1 oz. 
Juniper berries, 4 lbs. treacle, 4 lb. beef suet. Use enough water 
to cover the hams. Keep them in this pickle for a month, then 
smoke for a month. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
As we write snow is falling fast, the land is frost-bound, and farm 
work is likely to be confined very much to the homestead for the next 
few weeks, which will certainly not be idle ones. At the farmhouse 
there is the daily and bi-weekly churning of butter, the daily work 
among the cheese, the salting or placing in pickle of hams and bacon, 
the bacon house fire to keep going, the potting of lard, the plucking of 
poultry, the despatch of produce to the hall. The slaughter-house is in 
almost daily use now for the slaughter and dressing of sheep and pigs. 
See that mutton is hung long enough before it leaves the farm to insure 
tenderness when cooked—there must be a distinct understanding with 
the cook about this important matter. Flour from home-grown wheat 
shows the effect of the hot dry harvest in its superior quality, and the 
wheat was so hard and dry when stacked that a stack may be threshed 
whenever more wheat is wanted, if only it is done when the outside of 
the stack is dry . This may be thought a trifle, but when heavy rain has 
beaten against a stack day after day it is just as well to wait a bit before 
threshing. Let Oat crushing, Barley grinding, chaff cutting, and root 
slicing be done systematically. Allow none of the horses, cattle, or 
sheep to have whole corn. Some straw and hay may be used in rack 
and manger to amuse and quiet them, but we like the bulk of the food 
to be cut, crushed, or ground. We have had old horses fall off sadly in 
condition through feeding with whole corn, this has ever since been an 
incentive to put it out of the power of careless carters to do harm in 
that way. 
See that thorough cleanliness has strict attention in every stable, 
hovel, or building of any sort used for stock. Insist upon the coats o£ 
cows, calves, and store cattle being kept as clem and free from filth as 
those of the horses. Clean dry litter or none must be the rule. Never 
suffer any animal to lie down upon sodden filthy litter, or upon a foul 
floor. Be much among the stock, study any special requirements of 
young or delicate animals, give a look round often of an evening, and 
see that all orders for shelter, warmth, and cleanliness have attention. 
FERTILISERS AND FEEDINU STUFFS ACT, 1893. 
The Board of Agriculture consider it desirable to give publicity to . 
the provisions of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, which came 
into force on the 1st day of January, 1894, and extends to Great Britain 
and Ireland. 
The provisions of the Act, which applies to wholesale as well as 
retail sales, may be classified as follows : — 
1, Provisions relating to the warranty to be implied on the sale of a 
fertiliser or feeding stuff ; 
2, Provisions relating to taking samples and obtaining analyses; and 
3, Provisions relating to offences, penalties, and legal proceedings. 
Provisions Relating to the Warrantv to be Implied on the 
Sale of a Fertiliser or Feeding Stuff. 
Every person who sells a fertiliser (ie,, any article sold as a fertiliser 
of the soil) which has been manufactured or subjected to any artificial 
process in the United Kingdom, or imported from abroad, is required to 
give to the purchaser an invoice stating the name of the fertiliser, and 
whether it is artificially compounded or not, and what is, at least, the 
per-centage of the nitrogen, phosphates soluble and insoluble (i e., in 
water), and potash, if any, contained in the fertiliser, and this invoice is 
to have effect as a warranty by the seller of the statements contained 
therein. This provision does not apply to a sale where the whole amount 
sold at the ^ame time weighs less than half a cwt. 
Every person who sells a feeding stuff (t.e., any article sold for use 
as food for cattle) which has been artificially prepared, is required to 
give to the purchaser an invoice, stating the name of the feeding stuff, 
and whether it has been prepared from one substance or seed, or from 
more than one substance or seed, and this invoice is to have effect as a 
warranty by the seller of the statements contained therein. 
Where any feeding stuff is sold under a name or description implying 
