SWINE.-NO. 1. 
25 
only, or at least the principal purpose to which it 
applied in this country, and never for cooling 
wine, water, or making ices, as we do in Europe. 
It is now, I think, a question whether we could 
not build ice houses at less expense, and more effi¬ 
cient, upon the Chinese plan than upon the old un¬ 
der ground system common in England. 
I have since had frequent opportunities of testing 
the qualities of the Chinese ice house, both at 
Ning-po and also at Chusan and Shanghae, and I 
have found that it answers the purpose admirably. 
The winter of 1844-5 was unusually mild in this 
part of China; little or no ice was formed on the 
ponds and canals, and of course the ice houses 
could not be filled ; but many of them contained 
large quantities which had been laid up the year 
before, and by this means the market was supplied 
with ice, which had been in store, at least a year 
and a half. 
SWINE.—No. 1. 
Although we have bred, reared, and fattened 
hundreds of pigs, and written many an essay upon 
them, we must confess that we perfectly detest the 
sight of a hog, unless he be of a particularly fine 
breed, and is kept in good condi¬ 
tion, and in his proper place. An¬ 
other thing, we do not and have not 
for years eaten the fat part of 
pork, and rarely the most delicate 
parts of the lean, for we be¬ 
lieve it positively unhealthy, and 
more particularly so during hot wea¬ 
ther ; and for this reason it was un¬ 
questionably wisely prescribed by 
Moses, who says:—“ And the 
swine, because it divideth the hoof, 
yet cheweth not the cud, it is un¬ 
clean unto you—ye shall not eat 
of their flesh, nor touch their dead 
carcase.” 
It has been repeatedly proved by 
accurate experiments, that pork and 
the fat of all kinds of meat, as 
well as lard and butter, are difficult 
of digestion ; and we believe that 
they are often the direct cause of 
cutaneous and scorbutic diseases, 
scrofula and fever. Beef, mut¬ 
ton, and poultry are much more 
healthy and nutritious than pork, and should take 
the place of it in our food. But the laws of Moses, 
Mahomed, the Hindoos, and our own humble opin¬ 
ion we fear will have little weight with the pub¬ 
lic in our day. Swine are reared in immense num¬ 
bers in America, and will continue to be fattened 
and eaten for generations*to come. This being the 
case, the only thing for us to do, is to point out the 
best kinds for the farmer, and give him such infor¬ 
mation as maybe serviceable in breeding, rearing, 
fattening, and marketing them. 
Breed. —We know few subjects on which there 
is more twaddle and humbug annually written, than 
on that of the breed of swine. There is in reality 
but ONE truly original fine breed , and that is, the 
Chinese. All other breeds , as they are termed, of 
any particular value, are merely crosses of the Chi¬ 
nese on the wild hog, or the large, coarse domestic 
hog of the country. We wish our readers to re" 
member this ; they will then have a correct starting 
point, and know the origin of all the improvements 
in breeding swine. 
The Chinese. —These vary somewhat in shape 
and size, and are of various colors—white, gray, 
sandy, blue, dark copper, and jet black, with a 
greater or less mixtuee in spots of these different 
colors, produced unquestionably by crossing one 
with the other. The dark copper, commonly called 
the Siamese pigs, we have generally found the hardi¬ 
est, most muscular, and best shaped. The pure 
white are often larger, but not of so good a consti¬ 
tution ; and their pork is usually more oily and 
gross than the Siamese. 
The following is a good portrait of such of the 
Chinese as are commonly imported into this country. 
We have often seen and bred much finer specimens, 
however, and are told by our friends, who have long 
resided in China that the best breeders there bestow 
great attention and study on this subject, and are 
particularly choice in their animals; but that it is 
extremely difficult to get these, and when obtained it is 
only by special favor of a Mandarine or some high 
public functionary. Those like Fig. 7, can be seen 
A Chinese Sow.—Fig. 7. 
running about the streets of Canton, and are sucii 
as are generally put on board American ships for 
stores. We are thus particular that our readers 
may understand this subject fully. But the crosses 
of even the ugliest sway back and pot-bellied Chi¬ 
nese that can be found, on the common coarse 
slab-sided swine of the country, prove of great bene¬ 
fit, particularly in the second and third generation 
These are frequently found in the neighborhood, 
and had we not witnessed the great improvement 
made by this cross, we should not have believed it 
possible to effect it with such unpromising materi¬ 
als. 
Characteristics of the Chinese Pig. —The best of the 
Siamese or Chinese breed of swine, have a fine head 
and snout with the face somewhat dished; small, 
upright ears; compact, thick, deep carcass; large 
hams and shoulders; short limbs with delicate 
